^$ 












/ . 



ft. ii » 




Here, said T, here once flourished an opulent city, here 
was the seat of a powerful empire.— CA. // 



VOLNEY'S RUINS; 
.1 

OR, 

MEDITATION 

ON THE 

REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 

TRANSLATED 

UNDER THE IMMEDIATE INSPECTION OF THE AUTHOR l ROM 
THE SIXTH PARIS EDITION. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

THE LAW OF NATURE, 

AND 

A SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, 
BY COUNT DARU : 

ALSO, 
THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN DR. PRIESTLY AND VOLNBY. 



I will go into the desert, and dwell among ruins; I will interrogate an- 
cient monuments on the wisdom of past times.'— Chap. iv. p. 30. 



BOSTON : 

PUBLISHED BY CHARLES GAYLORD. 
1840'. 



LC Control Number 





2004 354428 



I ii 



J)/G 

n 






GIFT 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



VOLNEY'S RUINS; 

OR, MEDITATION ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES 

The superior merits of this work are too well known to require 
commendation ; but as it is not generally known that there are 
in circulation three English translations of it, varying very ma- 
terially in regard to faithfulness and elegance of diction, the 
publishers of the present edition insert the following extracts for 
the information of purchasers and readers : 

PARIS TRANSLATION. 

J\roio first Published in this Country by Dixon and Sickels 
in duodecimo and octavo, 

INVOCATION. 
Hail solitary ruins ! holy sepulchres, and silent walls ! you 
I invoke ;. to you I address my prayer. While your aspect 
averts, with secret terror, the vulgar regard, it excites in my heart, 
the charm of delicious sentiments, sublime contemplations. 
What useful lessons \ what affecting and profound reflections you 
suggest to him who knows how to consult you. When the 
whole earth, in chains and silence, bowed the neck before its 
tyrants, you had already proclaimed the truths which they abhor, 
and confounding the dust of the king with that of the meanest 
slave, had announced to man the sacred dogma of Equality ! 
Within your pale, in solitary adoration of Liberty, I saw her 
Genius arise from the mansions of the dead; not such as she is 
painted by the impassioned multitude, armed with fire and sword, 
but under the august aspect of Justice, poising in her hand the 
sacred balance, v>^herein are weighed the actions of men at the 
gates of eternity. 

1* 



b ADVERTISEMENT. 

O Tombs ! what virtues are yours ! you appal the tyrant's 
heart, and poison with secret alarm his impious joys ; he flies, 
with coward step, your incorruptible aspect, and erects afar his 
throne of insolence. 

LO]\DON TRANSLATION. 

INVOCATION. 

bolitary ruins, sacred tombs, ye mouldering and silent walls, 
all hail ! To you I address my Invocation. While the vul- 
gar shrinlc from your aspect with secret teiTor, my heart finds 
in the contemplation a thousand delicious sentiments, a thousand 
admirable recollections. Pregnant, I may truly call you, with 
useful lessons, with pathetic and irresistible advice to the man 
who knows how to consult you. Awhile ago, the whple world 
bowed the neck in silence before the tyrants that oppressed it; 
and yet in that hopeless moment you already proclaimed the 
truths that tyrants hold in abhorrence : mixing the dust of the 
proudest kmgs with that of the meanest slaves, you called upon 
us to contemplate this example of Equality. From your cav- 
erns, whither the musing and anxious love of Liberty led me, . 
I saw escape its venerable shade, and with unexpected felicity, 
direct its flight and marshal nty steps the way to renovated 
France. 

Tombs ! what virtues and potency do you exhibit ! Tyrants 
tremble at your aspect — you poison with secret alarm their im- 
pious pleasures — they*turn from you with impatience, and, cow- 
ard like, endeavour to forget you amid the sumptuousness of 
their palaces. 

PHILADELPHIA TRANSLATION. 

INVOCATION. 
Hail, ye solitary ruins, ye sacred tombs, and silent walls ! 
'Tis your auspicious aid that I invoke, 'tis to you my soul, wrap- 
ped in meditation, pours forth its prayer ! What though the 
profane and vulgar mind shrinks with dismay from your august 
and awe-inspiring aspect, to me ye unfold the sublimest charms 
of contemplation and sentiment, and offer to my senses the lux- 
ury of a thousand delicious and enchanting thoughts ! How 
sumptuous the feast to a being that has a taste to relish, and an 
understanding to consult you ! What rich and noble admoni- 
tions, what exquisite and pathetic lessons do you read to a heart 
that is susceptible of exalted feelings ! When oppressed hu- 



ADVERTISEMENT. 7 

manhy bsiit in timid silence throughout the globe beneath the 
galling yoke of slavery, it was you that proclaimed aloud the 
birthright of those trutlis which, tyrants tremble at while they de- 
tect, and which by sinking the loftiest head of the proudest 
potentate, with all his boasted pageantry, to the level of mor- 
tality with his meanest slave, confirmed and ratified by your un- 
erring testimony the sacred and immortal doctrine of Equality. 

Musing within the precincts of your inviting scenes of philo- 
sophic solitude, whither the insatiate love of trueborn Liberty 
had led me, I beheld her genius ascending, not in the spurious 
character and habit of a bloodthirsty Fury armed with daggci-s 
and instruments of raurdei-, and followed by a frantic and intoxi- 
cated multitude, but under the placid and chaste aspect of jus- 
tice, holding with a pure and unsullied hand the sacred scales in 
which the actions of mortals ai-e weighed on the brink of eternity. 

O ye tombs and emblematic images of death ! How super- 
lative is your pow^er, how irresistible your influence ! Your 
presence appals and chills the souls of tyrants with electric hor- 
ror and remorse : the very remembrance of you haunts their 
minds like a ghastly spectre in the midst of then- voluptuous en- 
joyments, and the terror you inspire plants thorns in all their 
thoughts, and poisons their impious pleasures into pains. 



The first translation was made and published in London spon 
after the appearance of the work in French, and by a late edi- 
tion, is still adopted without alteration. Mr. Volney, when in 
this country, in 1797, expressed his disapprobation of this trans- 
lation, alleging that the translator must have been overawed by 
the government or clergy from rendering his ideas faithfully! 
and accordmgly ,an English gentleman then in Philadelphia, vol- 
unteered to correct this edition. But by his endeavours to give 
the true and full meaning of the author with great precision, he 
has so overloaded his composition with an exuberance of words, 
as in a great measure to dissipate the simple elegance and sub- 
limity of the criginal. Mr. Volney, when he became better ac- 
quainted with the English language, perceived this defect ; and, 
with the aid of our countryman, Joel Barlow, made and publLsh- 
ed in Paris, a new, correct, and elegant translation, of which 
tlio present edition is a faithful and correct copy 



CONTENTS. 



Invocation. - - - . . -11 

The Life of Volney. - - - - 13 

I. The Joiirney. - _ - « 21 

II. Meditation. - - - - - 23 

III. The Apparition. - - - - 26 

IV. The Exposition. - - - 30 

V. Condition of Man in the Universe. - - - 34 

VI. The Primitive State of Man. - - 36 

VII. Principles of Society. - - ' - 37 

VIII. Source of the Evils of Societies. - 3S 

IX. Origin of Governments and Laws. - - 40 

X. General Causes of the Prosperity of Ancient States. 42 

XI. General Causes of the Revolutions and Rnin of An- 

cient States, - - - - - 45 

XII. Lessons of Times Past Repeated on the Present. 52 

XIII. Will the Human Race Improve ? - - 62 

XIV. The Great Obstacle to Improvement, t - 68 

XV. The New Age. - - - - 71 

XVI. A Free and Legislative People. - - 76 

XVII. Universal Basis of all Right and all Law." - 77 

XVIII. Consternation and Conspiracy of Tyrants. 79 

XIX. General Assembly of the Nations. - - 81 

XX. The Search of Truth. - - - - 84 

XXI. Problem of Religious Contradictions. - 93 

XXII. Origin and Filiation of Religious Ideas. - 113 
§ I Origin of the Idea of God : Worship of the Ele- 
ments and of the Physical Powers of Nature. 117 

§ II. Second System. Worship of the Stars or Sabeism. 120 

§ III. Third System. Worship of Symbois, or Idola- ' 

try. - - - - - 123 

§ IV. Fourth System. Worship of two Principles, or 

Dualism. . _ - - - 132 

§ V. Moral and Mystical Worship, or System of a Fu- 
ture State. , _ - - 137 



10 CONTENTS. 

§ VI. Sixth System. The Animated World, or Worship 

of the Universe under divers Emblems. - 141 
§ VII. Seventh System. Worship of the Soul of the 
World, that is to say, the Element of Fire, Vi- 
tal Principle of the Universe. _ _ _ 144 
§ VIII. Eighth System. The World Machme : Worehip 

of the demi-Ourgos or Grand Artificer. 145 

§ IX. Religion of Moses, or Worship of the Soul of the 

WoFld (You-piter.) - - - 149 

§ X. K el igion of Zoroaster. - - - 151 

§ XI. Brahmism, or Indian System. - - 152 

§ XH. Boudhism, or Mystical Systems. - - 152 

§ XIII. Christianity, or the Allegorical Worship of the 
Sun under the Cabalistical Names of Chris-en 
or Christ, and Yesus or Jesus. - - - 153 

XXIII. The Object of all Religions identical. 161 

XXIV. Solution of the Preblem of Contradictions. - 170 



THE LAW OF NATURE. 

I. Of the Law of Nature. - - - - 176 

II. Characters of the Law of Nature. - - 177 

III. Principles of the Law of Nature with Relation to 

Man. - - - - - - 181 

rV. Basis of Morality: of Good, of Evil, of Sin, of Crime, 

of Vice and of Virtue. - - - 184 

V. Of Individual Virtues. - - - - 186 

VI. On Temperance, - - - - 188 

VII. On Continence. - - - - 190 

VIII. On Courage and Activity. - - - 192 

IX. On Cleanliness. _ _ . . 195 

X. On Domestic Virtues. - - - - 196 

XI. Of (he Social Virtues ; of Justice. - - 199 

XII. Dovelopement of the Social Virtues. - 201 

Volney's Answkr to Db. Prixstlt. - 207 



INVOCATION. 



Haii. solitary ruins, holy sepulciires and silent walls ! you I 
invoke ; to you I address my prayer. While your aspect averts, 
with secret terror, the vulgar regard, it excites, in my heart, the 
charm of delicious sentiments, sublime contemplations. Wliat 
useful lessons, what affecting and profound reflections you sug- 
gest to him who knows how to consult you ! When the whole 
earth, in chains and silence, bowed the neck before its tyrants, 
you had already proclaimed the truths which they abhor; and, 
confounding th^ dust of the king with that of the meanest slave, 
had announced'to man the sacred dogma of Equality. Within 
your pale, in solitary adoration of Liberty, I saw her Genius 
arise from the mansions of the dead ; no' such as she is painted 
by the impassioned multitude, armed with fire and sword, but 
under the august aspect of Justice, poising in her hand the sacred 
balance, wherein are weighed the actions of men at the gates 
of eternity. 

O Tombs ! what virtues are yours ! you appal the tyrant's 
heart, and poison with secret alarm his impious joys ; he flies, 
with coward step, your incorruptible aspect, and erects afar his 
throne of insolence. You punish the powerful oppressor; you 
wrest from avarice and extortion their ill gotten gold, and you 
avenge the feeble whom they have despoiled; you compensate 
the miseries of the poor by the anxieties of the rich ; you console 
the wretched, by opening to him a last asylum from distress, 
and you give to the soul that just equipoise of strength and sen- 
sibility which constitutes wisdom, the true science of life. 
Aware that all must return t(s you, the wise man loadeth not 
himself with the burdens of grandeur and of useless wealth : 
he restrains Ws desires within the limits of justice ; yet, knowing 



12 INVOCATION. 

that he must run his destined course cf life, he fills with employ- 
ment all its hours, and enjoys the comforts that fortune has 
allotted him. You thus impose on the impetuous sallies of cu- 
pidity a salutary rein ! you calm the feverish ardor of enjoyments 
which disturb the senses ; you free the soul from the fatiguing 
conflict of the passions ; elevate it above the paltry interests 
which torment the crowd ; and surveying from your commanding 
position, the expanse of ages and nations, the mind is only ac- 
cessible to the great affections, to the solid ideas of virtue and of 
glory. Ah ! when the dream of life is over, what will then 
avail all its agitations, if not one trace of utility remains be- 
hind ? 

O Ruins ! to your school I will return ! I will seek again the 
calm of your solitudes ; and there, far from the afflicting spec- 
tacle of the passions, I will cherish in remembrance the love of 
man, I will employ myself on the means of effecting good for 
him, and build my owti happiness on the promotion of his. 



THE 

LIFE OF VOLNEY, 

BY COUNT DARU. 



CoNSTANTiNE Francis Chassebeuf de Volney was bom 
in 1757 at Craon, in that intermediate condition of life, which is of 
all the happiest, since it is disinherited only of fortune's too danger- 
ous favors, and can aspire at the social and intellectual advantages 
reserved for a laudable ambition. 

From his earliest youtli, he devoted himself to the search after 
Truth, without being disheartened by the serious studies which alone 
can initiate us into her secrets. After having become acquainted 
with the ancient languages, the natural science? and history, and be- 
ing admitted into the society of the most eminent literary characters, 
he submitted, at the age of twenty, to an illustrious academy, the so- 
lution of one of tlie most difficult problems that the history of antiqui- 
ty has left open to discussion. This attempt received no encourage- 
ment from the learned men who were appointed his judges j the 
author's only appeal from their sentence was to his courage and his 
efforts. 

Soon after, a small inheritance having fallen to his lot, the difficulty 
was how to spend it (these are his own words.) He resolved to 
employ it in acquiring, by a long voyage, a new fund of information, 
and determined to visit Egypt and Syria. But these countries could 
not be explored to advantage without a knowledge of the language. 
Our young traveller was not to be discouraged by this difficulty : in- 
stead of learning Arabic in Europe, he withdrew to a convent of 
2 



14 LIFE OF VOLNEY. 

Copts, until he had made himself master of an idiom which Is spoken 
by so many nations of the east. This resolution already betrayed one 
of tljose undamited spirits that remain unshaken amidst the trials of 
life. 

Although, like other travellers, he might have amused us with the 
account of his hardships and the perils siu-mounted by his courage, he 
overcame the temptation of interrupting his narrative by personal 
adventures. He disdained the beaten t)-ack ; he does not tell us the 
road he took, the accidents he met with, or tlje impressions he re- 
ceived. He carefully avoids appearing upon the stage; he is an in* 
habitant of the country, who has long and well observed it, and who 
describes its physical, political and moral state. The illusion would 
be entire, if an old Arab could be supposed to posses,s all the erudition, 
all the European philosophy, which are found united and^ in their ma- 
turity in a traveller of twenty-five. 

But. though a master in all those artifices by which a narration is 
rejidered interesting, the young man is not to be discerned in the pomp 
of labored descriptions ; altliough possessed of a lively and brilliant 
imagination, he is never found unwaiily explaining by conjectural 
systems the physical or moral phenomena which he describes. In 
his observations he unites prudence Avith science; with these two 
guides he judges with circumspection, and sometimes confesses him- 
self unable to account for the effects he ha? made known to us. 

Thus his account has all the qualities that persuade, accuracy and 
candor : and when, ten years later, a vast military enterprise trans- 
ported forty thousand travellers to the classic ground, which he .had 
trod unattended, unarmed and unprotected, they all recognised a sure 
guide and an enlightened obsei'ver in the writer who seemed to have 
preceded tliem, only to remove or point out a. part of the difficulties 
af the way. 

The unanirtious testimony of all parties proved the accuracy of his 
account and the justness of liis observation ; and his Travels in Egypt 
and Syria were recommended by universal suffrage to the gratitude 
and tiie confidence of the public 

Before it had undergone this trial, the work had obtamea in tne 
learned world such a rapid and general success, that it found its way 
into Russia. The empress then upon the throne (in 1787) spnt the 
author a medal, which he received with respect, as a mark of esteem 
for his talents, and with gratitude, as a proof of the approbation given 
to his principles. But when the empress declare.. 1 against France, 



LIFE OF VOINEY. 



15 



Voluey sent back the honorable present, saying ; If I obtained it from 
her esteem, I can only preserve her esteem by returning it. 

The revolution of 1789, which had drawn upon France the mena- 
ces of Catharine, had opened to Volney a political career. As deputy 
in the assembly of the states-general, the first words he uttered there 
were in favor of tlie publicity of their deliberations. He also sup- 
ported the organization of the national guards and tliat of the com- 
munes and departments. 

At the period when the question of the sale of the domain lands 
was agitated (in 1790^) he published an essay in which he lays ''.own 
the following principles : " The force of a State is in proportion to 
its population ; population is in proportion to plenty ; plenty is in 
proportion to tillage, and tillage, to personal and immediate interest, 
tJiat is to tlie spirit of property. Whence it follows that the nearer 
tlie cultivator approaches the passive condition of a mercenaiy, the 
less industry and activity are to be expected from him ; and, on the 
other hand, the nearer he is to the condition of a free and entire pro- 
prietor, the more extension he gives to his own forces, to the produce 
of his lands, and to tlie general prosperity of the State." 

Tlie author draws this conclusion, that a State is so much the more 
powerful as it includes a greater number of proprietors, tliat Is, a 
g«-eater division of property. 

Conducted into Corsica, by that spirit of observation, which belongs 
only to men whose information is varied and extensive, he perceived 
at the first glance all that could be done for the impi'ovement of agri- 
culture in that comitry, but he knew tliat for a people firmly attached 
to ancient customs, there can exist no other demonstration or means 
of persuasion dian example. He purchased a considerable estate, 
and made experiments on all the kinds of tillage that he hoped to 
naturalize in that climate : the sugar-cane, cotton, indigo and coftee 
soon demonstrated the success of his efforts. This success dre^v*up- 
on him the notice of the government, he was appointed director of 
agriculture and commerce in that island, where, through ignorance, 
all new methods are introduced with such difficulty. 

It is impossible to calculate all the good tl:at might have resulted 
from this peaceable magistracy ; and we know tliat neither instruc- 
tion, zeal nor a persevering courage were wanting to him who had 
undertaken it : of this he had given convincing proofs. It was in 
obedience to another sentiment no less respectable, tliat he voluntarily 
interrupted the course of his labors. AVhen his fellow citizens of 



16 LIFE OF VOLNEY. 

Angers appointed him their deputy in the constituent assembly, he 
resigned tlie emplojnnent he heI3 under government, upon the princi- 
ple, that no man can represent the nation and be dependent for a sal- 
ary upon those by whom it is administered. 

Through respect for the independence of his legislative functions, 
he had ceased to occupy the place he possessed in Corsica before hig 
election ; but he had not ceased to be the benefactor of that country 
He returned thither after the session of the constituent assembly. 
Invited into that island by the principal inliabitants who were anx- 
ious to pat in practice his lessons, he spent there a part of the years 
1792 and 1793. 

On his return he published a work entitled : An account of the 
present state of Corsica. This was an act of courage ; for it was 
not a physical description, but a political review of the condition of 
a population divided into several factions and distracted by violent 
' anineosities. Volney unreservedly revealed the abuses, solicited the 
interest of France in favor of the Corsicans, without flattering them, 
and boldly denounced their defects 'and vices; so that the philosopher 
obtained tlie only recompense he could expect from his sincerity ; he 
was accused by the Corsicans of heresy. 

To. prove that he had not merited tliis reproach, he soon after pub- 
lished a short treatise entitled : The law of nature, or physical prin- 
ciples of morality. 

He was soon exposed to a much more dangerous charge, and this, 
it must be confessed, he did merit. This philosopher, this worthy 
citizen, who in our first National assembly, had seconded witli his 
wishes and his talents the establishment of an order of things which 
he considered favorable to the happiness of his country, was accused 
of not being sincerely attached to that liberty for which he had con- 
tended ; that is to say, of being averse to anarchy. An imprisonment 
of ten months, which only ended after the 9di of Thermidor, was a 
new trial reserved for his courage. 

Ilie moment at which he recovered his liberty was that, when the 
horror inspired by criminal excesses recalled men to those noble sen- 
timents which fortunately are one of the first necessaries of civilized 
life. They sought for consolations in study and literature, after so 
many crimes and misfortunes, and organized a plan of public in- 
struction. 

It was in the first place necessary to ensure the aptitude of those 
lo whom education should be confided ; but as the systems were vari- 



LIFE OP VOLNET. 17 

6US, the best methods and an unity of doctrine were to be determined. 
It was not enough to interrogate the masters, tliey were to be formed, 
new ones were to be created, and for that purpose, a sciiool was 
opened in 1794, wherein the celebrity of the professors promised new 
instruction even to the best informed. This was not, as was object- 
ed, beginning the edifice by tlie roof, but creating architects, who 
were to superintend all the arts requisite for the construction of the 
building. 

The more difficult their functions were, the greater care was to be 
taken in tlie choice of the professors; but France, though then accu- 
sed of being plunged in' barbarism, possessed men of ti-anscendent 
talents, already enjoying the esteem of all Europe, and we ija^y be 
lx)ld to say, that by their labors, our literary glory bad likewise ex- 
tended its conquests. Their names were proclaimed by tlie public 
voice, and Volney's was associated with tliose of the men most il- 
lusti-ious rn science and in literature.* 

This institution however did not answer the expectations tliathad 
been formed of it, because the two tliousand students that assembled 
from all parts of France were not equally prepared to receive these 
transcendent lessons, and because it had not been sufficiently ascei-- 
tained how far the theorj' of education should be kept distinct from 
education itself. 

Volney's lectures on history, which were attended by an immense 
concourse of auditors, became one of his chief claims to literary 
glory. When forced to interrupt them, by the suppression of the 
Normal school, he might have reasonably expected to enjoy, in his 
retirement, that consideration which his recent functions had added 
to his name. But, disgusted with the scenes he had witnessed in his 
native land, he felt that passion revive Avithin him, which, in his 
yoiith, had led him to visit Africa and Asia. America, civilized 
within a centuiT, and free only within a few years, fixed his atten- 
tion. There everything was new, tlie inhabitants, the constitution, 
the earth itself: these were objects worthy of 1ms observation. When 
embarking however for this voyage, he ieit emotions very different 
from those which formerly accompanied hi-m-into Turkey. Then in 
the prime of life, he joyfully bid adieu to a land where peace and 
plenty reigned, to travel amongst Babarians; now, mature in- years, 

* Lagrange, Laplace, Berthollet. Garat, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, 
Daubenton, Hauy, Volnev, Picard, Monge, Tt)onin, La Harpe, Buache,. 
Mentelle. 

2* 



18 LIFE OF VOLNEY 

but dismayed at the spectacle and experience of injustice and perse- 
cution, it was with diffidence, as we learn from himself, that he went 
to implore from a free people an asylum for a sincere friend of tliat 
liberty that had been so profaned. 

Oui- traveller had gone to seek for repose beyond the seas ; he there 
found himself exposed to aggression from a celebrated philosopher. 
Doctor Priestly. Although the subject of this discussion was confined 
to the investigation of some speculative opinions, published by the 
French writer in his work entitled The Ruins, the naturalist in 
this attack employed a degree of violence which added nothing to the 
force of his arguments, and an acrimony of expression not to be ex- 
pected from a philosopher. M. Volney, though accused of hottentot- 
ism and ignorance, preserved in his defence, all the advantages that 
the sciurility of his adversary gave over aim : he repHed in English, 
and Priestly's countrymen could only recognise the Fi-euchman in 
the refinement and politeness of his answer. 

Whilst M. Volney was travelling in America, there had been 
formed in France a literary body, which, under the name of Institute, 
had attained in a very few years a distinguished rank amongst the 
learned societies of Europe. The name of the illustrious traveller 
was inscribed in it at its formation, and he acquired new rights to 
the academical honors conferred on him dwing his absence, by the 
publication of his observations on the United States. 

These rights were further augmented by the historical and physio- 
logical labors of the Academician : an examination and justification 
of Herodctus's chronology, with numerous and profound researches on 
the history of the most ancient nations, occupied for a long time him 
who had observed their monuments and traces in the countries they 
inhabited. The trial he had made of the utility of the Oriental lan- 
guages inspired him with an ardent desire to propagate the know- 
ledge of them, and to be propagated, he felt how necessai-y it was to 
render it less difficult. In this view he conceived the project of ap- 
plying to the study of tlie idioms of Asia, a part of the grammatical 
notions we possess concerning the languages of Europe. It only 
appertains to those conversant with their relations of dissimilitude 
or conformity to appreciate tl>e possibility of realizing this system ; 
but already tlie author has received the most flattering encourage- 
ment and the most uneciuivocal suffrage, by the inscription of his 
name amoniifst the members of the learned aud illustrious society 
1o;!m !,^d by English commerce in the Indian peninsula. 



LIFE OF VOLNEY. 19 

M. Volney developed his system in three works,* which prove that 
this idea of lining nations separated by immense distances and such 
various idioms, had never ceased to occupy him for twenty-five years. 
Lest tliose essays, of the utility of which he was persuaded, should 
be interrupted by his death, with the clay-cold hand that corrected his 
last work, he di-ew up a will which institutes a premium for the 
prosecution of his labors. Thus he prolonged, beyond the term of a 
life entirely devoted to letters, the glorious services he had rendered 
tliem. 

This is not the place, nor does it belong to me to appreciate the 
merit of the wi'itings which render Volney's name illustrious : his 
name had been inscribed in the list of the Senate and afterwards of 
tlie House of Peers. The philosopher who had travelled in the four 
quarters of the world, and observed their social state, had other titles 
to his admission into this body, |^an his literary glory. His public 
life, his conduct in the constituent assembly, his independent princi- 
ples, the nobleness of his sentiments, the wisdom and fixity of his. 
opinions, had gained him the esteem of those who can be depended 
upon, and with whom it is so agreeable to discuss political interests. 

Although no man had a better right to have an opinion, no one 
was more tolerant for the opinions of others. In State assemblies as 
well as in Academical meetings, the man whose counsels were so 
wise voted according to his conscience, which notliing could bias ; 
but the philosopher forgot his superioritj^ to hear, to oppose with 
moderation, and to doubt sometimes. The extent and variety of his 
information, the force of his reason, the austerity of his manners, and 
the noble simplicity of his character, had procured him illustrious 
friends in both hemispheres ; and now that this vast erudition is ex- 
tinct in tlie tomb,t we may be allowed at least to predict that he 
was one of the very few whose memory snail never die. 



A List of the Works Published by Count Volney. 

Travels in Egypt and Syria during the years 1783, 1784, 
and 1785; 2 volumes in 8vo. 1787. 

* Ou the simplification of the Oriental languages, 1795. 
The European alphabet applied to the languages of Asia, 1819 
Hebrew simplified, 1820. 

t He died in Paris on the 20th of April, 1820. 



20 LIST OF WORKS. 

Chronology of the Twelve Centuries tliat preceded the 
entrance of Xerxes into Greece. ^ 

Considerations on the Turkish War, in 1788. 

The Ruins, or Meditation on the Revohitions of Empires, 1791 

Account of the Present State of Corsica, 1793. 

The Law of Nature, or Physical Principles of Morality, 1793 ■ 

On the Simplification of Oriental Languages, 1795. 

A Letter to Doctor Priestly, 1797. 

Lectures on History delivered at the Normal school in the year 
3, 1600. 

On the Climate and Soil of the United States of 
America, to which is added an account of Florida, of the French 
colony of Scioto, of some Canadian colonies and of the savages, 
1803. 

Report made to the Celtic Academy on the Russian 
Work of Professor Pallas, entitled, A comparative vo- 
cabulary of all the languages in the world. 

The Chronology of Herodotus conformable with his text, 
1808 and 1809. 

New Researches on Ancient History, 3v. inSvo. 1814. 

The European Alphabet, applied to the languages of Asia, 
1819. 

A History of Samuel, 1819 

Hebreav Simplified, 1820. 



THE RUINS, &c. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE JOURNEY. 



In the eleventli year of the reign of Abd-ul-Hamid, son of Ahmed., 
emperor of the Tyrks ;. when tlie victorious Russians seized on the 
Krimea, and planted their standards on the shore that leads to Con« 
stantinople ; 

I was travelling in the empire of the Ottomans, and through those 
provinces which were anciently the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria. 

My whole attention bent on whatever concerns the happiness of 
man in a social state, I visited cities and studied the manners of 
their inhabitants ; entered palaces, and observed the conduct of those 
who govern ; wandered over tlie fields, and examined the condition 
of those who cultivate tliem ; and nowhere perceiving aught but rob- 
bery and devastatio», tyranny and wretchedness, my heart was op- 
pressed with sorrow and indignation. 

I saw daily on my road fields abandoned, villages deserted, and 
cities in ruin. Often I me^ with ancient monuments, wrecks of 
temples, palaces and fortresses; columns, aqueducts, and tomfes; 
and tliis spectacle led me to meditate on times past, and filled my 
mind with serious and profound contemplations. 

Arrived at Hems, on the banks of the Orontes, and being at no 
great distance from Palmyra of- the desert, I resolved to see its 
celebrated monuments ; after three days travelling tlirough an arid 
wilderness, having traversed tlie valley of caves and sepulchres, on 



22 THE RUINS. 

issuing into the piain, I was suddenly struck with a scene of the 
most stupendous ruins : a countless multitude of superb columns, 
gtretching in avenues beyond the reach of sigiit. Among them were 
magnificent edifices, some entire, others in ruins. The ground was 
covered on all sides with freigments of cornices, capitals, shafts,, en- 
tablatures, pilasters, all of white marble, and of the mos.t excjulsite 
workmanship. After a walk of three quarters of an hour along 
these ruins, I entered the enclosure of a vast edifice, formerly a tem- 
ple dedicated to the sun, a»d accepting the hospitality of seme poor 
Arabian peasants, who had built their huts on the area of tlie temple, 
I resolved to stay some days to contemplate, at leisure, the beauty 
of so many Dtupendous works. 

Every day I visited some of the monuments which covered the 
plain; and one evening, absorbed in reflection, I had advanced to 
the valley of sepulchres; I ascended the heights which surround it, 
and from whence the eye commands tlie whole group of ruins and 
the immensity of the desf?rt. — ^The sun had just simk below the hori- 
zon : a red border of light still marked his track behind the distant 
mountains of Syria : the full-moon was rising in t!«e east on a blue 
ground over the plains of the Euphrates ; the sky was clear, the air 
calm and serene; the dying lamp of day still softened the horrors of 
approaching darkness; the refreshing breeze of night attempered the 
sultry emanations froin the heated earth ; the herdsmen had led the 
camels to their stalls ; the eye perceived no motion on the dusky and 
uniform plain; profound silence rested on the desert; the bowlings 
only of tiie jackal,* and the solemn notes of the bird of night were 
heard at distant intervals. Darkness now increased, and already, 
.hrough the dusk, I could distinguish nothing moi'e than the pale 
phantasies of columns and walls. The solitude of the place, the 
tranquillity of the hour, tlie majesty of the scene, impressed on my 
*ii!iii a religious pensiveness. The aspect of a great city deserted, 
he memory of times past, compared with its present state, all eleva- 
ted my mind to high contemplations. I«sat on the shaft of a coliunu : 
nd tliere, my elbow reposing on my knee, and head reclining on my 

and, my eyes fixed, sometimes on tlie desert, sometimes on the ruins, 

fell into a profound revery. 

* A kind of foy that roves only during the night 



THE nuiNs. 23 

CHAPTER II. 

MEDITATION. 

Here, «aid I, here once flourished an opulent city j here was the 
seat of a powerful empire. Yes ! these places now so desert, were 
once animated by a living multitude ; a busy crowd circulated in 
these streets now so solitary'. Within these walls, where a mournfui 
silence reigns, the noise of the arts and shouts of joy and festivity 
incessantly resounded : these piles of marble were regular palaces ; 
these prostrate pillars adorned the majesty of temples ; tliese rumed 
galleries surrounded public places. Here a numerous people assem- 
bled for tlie sacred duties of religion, or the anxious cai-es of their 
subsistence : here industry, parent of enjoyments, collected the rich- 
es of all climates, and the purple of Tyre >vas exchanged for the 
precious thread of Serica ;* the soft tissues wf Kachemire for the 
sumptuous tapestry of Lydia ; the amber of the Baltic for the pearls 
and perfumes of Arabia ; the gold of Ophir for the tin of Thule. 

And now a mournful skeleton is all that subsists of this powerful 
city ! nought remains of its vast domination, but a doubtful and emp 
ty remembrance ! To the tumultuous throng which crowded under 
tliese porticoes has succeeded the solitude of death. The silence of 
the tomb is substituted for the bustle of public places. The opulence 
of a commercial city is changed into hideous poverty. The palaoes 
of kings are become a den of wild beasts ; flocks fold on the area 
of the temple, and unclean reptiles inhabit the sanctuary of the godsl 
— Ah ! Iiow has so much glory been eclipsed 1 — How have so many 
labors been annihilated 1 — Thus perish the works of men, and thus • 
do empires and nations disappear ! 

And the history of former times revived in my mind ; I recollected 
those distant ages when many illustrious nations inhabi4;ed these 
countries ; I figured to myself the Assyrian on the banks of the Ti- 

* " Thread of Serica." — That is the silk, originally derived from the 
mountainous country where the great wall terminates, and which ap- 
pears to have been the cradle of the Chinese empire, known to the Lat- 
ins under the name of Regio Serarum, Serica. 

" The tissues of Kachemire."— The shawls which Ezekiel seems to 
have described, five centuries before our era, under tlie appellation o 
Clioud-Choud. 



24 . THE RUINS. 

gris, the Kaldean on those of the Euyhrates, the Persian reigning 
from the Indus to the Mediterranean. I enumerated the kingdoms 
of Damascus and Idumea, of Jerusalem and Samaria, tlie warlike 
states of the Philistines, and the commercial republics of Phoenicia- 
This Syria, said I, now so depopulated, then contained a hundred 
flourishing cities ; and abounded with towns, villages and hamlets.* 
Everywhertt M'ere seen cultivated fields, frequented roads, and ci-owd- 
ed habitations. — ^Ah ! what are become of those ages of abundance 
and of life 1 How have so many brilliant creations of human 
industry vanished 1 Where are tliose ramparts of Nineveh, those 
walls of Babylon, those palaces of Persepolis, tliose temples of Bal- 
beck and of Jerusalem'? Whei-e are tliose fleets of Tyre, those 
dock-yards of Arad, those work -shops of Sidon, and that multitude 
of sailors, of pilots, of merchants, and of soldiers 1 Where those 
husbandmen, those harvests, those flocks, and all the createon of liv- 
ing beings in which the face of tlie earth rejoiced 1 Alas ! I have 
passed over this desolate land ! I have visited the palaces once the 
theatre of so much splendor, and I beheld nothing but solitude and 
desolation. — I sought tlie ancient inhabitants and their works, and 
could only find a faint trace, like that of the foot of a traveller over 
the sand. The temples are fallen, the palaces overthrown, the ports 
filled up, the cities destroyed, and the eartli, sti-ipped of inhabitants, 
seems a dreary burying-place. — Great God ! whence proceed such 
fatal revolutions '? What causes have so altered tlie fortunes of these 
countries 1 Why are so many cities destroyed 1 Why has not this 
ancient population been reproduced and perpetuated 1 

Thus absorbed in contemplation, a crowd of new reflections con- 
tinually poured in upon my mind. Everything, continued I, con- 
founds my reason, and fills my heart with trouble and uncertainty. 
When these countries enjoyed what constitutes the glory and happi- 
ness of man, they were inhabited by an infidel people ; it was the 
Phoenician, that homicide sacrificer to Molock, who gathered into 
his stores the riches of aH climates ; it was the Kaldekn prostrate 
before a serpent,t who subjugated opulent cities, and despoiled the 
palaces of kings, and the temples of the gods ; it was tlie Persian, 
adorer of fiie, who received tlie tribute of a hundred nations ; it was 
the inhabitant of this very city, worshipper of the sun and stars, who 

* According to the calculations of Josephus and Strabo, Syria must 
have contained ten millions of inhabitants ; there are not two at the 
present day. 

[The dragon Bel. 



THE RUINS. 25 

erected so many mouuments of prosperity and lirxury. — Nnmerous 
liocks, fertile fields, abundant harvests, whatsoever should he the re- 
ward of piety, was in the hands of these idolaters : and now when a 
people of saints and believers occupy these fields, all is become ster- 
ility and solitude. Tlie eardi under these holy hands, produces only 
tliorns and briars. Man sows in anguish, and I'eaps only vexation 
and tears ; war, famine, pestilence, assail him in turn. — Yet, are 
not these the children of tlie prophets 1 the Mussulman, Christian, 
Jew, are they not the elect children of God, loaded with favors and 
miracles 1 Why then do' these privileged races no longer enjoy the 
same advantages 1 Why are these fields, sanctified by the blood of 
martyrs, deprived of their ancient benefits 1 Why have those bless- 
ings been banished hence and transferred for so many ages to other 
nations and different climes 1 v 

At these words, revolving in my mind the course of vicissitudes 
which have transmitted the sceptre of the world successively to peo- 
ple so different in religion and manners, fronl those of ancient Asia, 
to the most recent of Europe, this name of a ^atal land revived in 
me the sentiment of my country : and turning my eyes towards her, 
1 began to reflect on the situation in which I left her.* 

I called to mind her fields so richly cultivated, her roads so sump- 
tuously constructed, her cities inhabited by a countless people, her 
fleets spread over every sea, her ports filled with the produce of 
eitlier India : and comparing with the activity of her comraei-ce, the 
extent of her navigation, the magnificence of her monuments, the 
arts and industry of her inhabitants, what Egypt and Syria had once 
possessed, I was gratified to find in modern Europe tlie departed 
splendor of Asia : but the charm of my revery was soon dissolved 
by a last term of comparison. Reflecting that such had once been 
the activity of the places I was then contemplating : Who knows, 
said I, but such may one day be the abandonment of oiu- countries 1 
Who knows if on the banks of the Seine, the Thames, or the Zuy- 
der-Zee, where now, in the tumult of so many enjoyments, the heart 
and the eye suffice not for the multitude of sensations : wh* knows 
if some traveller, like myself, shall not one day sit on their silent 
ruins and weep in solitude over the ashes of their inhabitants, and 
the memory of their greatness 1 

At these words, my eyes filled with tears : and covering my head 
with the fold of my garment, I sunk into gloomy meditations on hu- 

* In 1789, at the close of the American war, 
3 



26 THE RUINS. 

man affairs. Ah ! hapless man, said I, in my grief, a blind fatality 
sports Avilh thy destiny ! A fatal necessity rules with the hand of 
chance the lot of mortals. But no : it is the justice of heaven fulfil- 
ling its decrees I A mysterious God exercising his incomprehensible 
judgments ! Doubtless he has pronounced a secret anathema against 
this land : blasting with maledictions the present for tlie sins of the 
past generations. Oh ! who shall dare to fatliom the deptlis of the 
Divinity 1 * 
And I remained motionless, plunged in profound melancholv 



CHAPTER III 

, THE APP^ITION. 

Meanwhile a noise struck my ear : like to the agitation of a 
flowing robe, or of slow footsteps on dry and rustling grass. Start- 
led, I opened my mantle, and casting around a timid glance, sudden- 
ly on my left, by the glimmering light of the moon, through the 
columns and ruins of a neighbouring temple, I thought I saw a p,ale 
apparition, clothed in large and flowing robes, as spectres are repre- 
sented rising from their tombs. I shuddered : and while agitated ^nd 
hesitating whether to fly or to ascertain the object, a deep voice, in 
solemn accents, pronounced these words ; 

" How long will man importune heaven with unjust complaint 1 
How long, with vain clamors, will he accuse Fate as the author of 
his calamities 7 Will he then never open his eyes to the ligbt, and 
his heart to the insinuations of truth and reason 1 The light of truth 
meets him everywhere ; yet he sees it not ! The voice of reason 
strikes liis ear, and he hears it not ! Unjust man ! if for a moment 
you can suspend the delusion which fascinates your senses, if your 
heart can comprehend the language of reason, mterrogate these 
ruins ! Read the lessons which they present to you ! — And you, wit- 

* Fatality is the u-niversal and rooted prejudice of the East: "It was 
written," is there the answer tc everything, — hence result an unconcern 
and apathy, the most powerful impediments to instruction and civilisa- 
tion. 



THE RUINS. 27 

nesses of twenty different centuries, holy temples ! venerable tombs ! 
walls once so glorious, appear in the cause of nature herself! Ap- 
proach the tribunal of sound reason, and bear testimony against 
unjust accusations ! come and confound the declamations of a false 
wisdom or hypocritical piety, and avenge the heavens and tlie eardi 
of man who calumniates them ! 

" What is that blind fatality, which without order and without 
lavv, sports with the destiny of mortals 1 What is tliat unjust neces- 
sity, which confounds the effect of actions, whedier of wisdom or of 
folly 1 in what consist those anadiemas of heaven over tliis land 1 
Where is that divine malediction which perpetuates the abandonment 
of these fields 1 Say, monuments of past ages ! have tke heavens 
changed tlieir laws and the earth its motion 1 are the fires of tlie sun 
extmct in the regions of space 1 do the seas no longer emit their va • 
pors 1 are die rains and the dews suspended in the air 1 do the moun- 
tains widiliold their springs 1 are tlie streams dried up 1 and do die 
plants no longer bear fruit and seed 1 Answer, generation of farlse- 
hood and iniquity, has God deranged the primitive and settled order 
of things which he himself assigned to nature 1 Has heaven denied 
to earth, and earth to its inhabitants, die blessings which once they 
proffered 1 If nodiing has changed in the creation, if die same means 
exist now which existed before, why dien are not the present what 
former generations were 1 Ah 1 it is falsely that you accuse fate and 
heaven I it is injuriously that you refer to God the cause of your 
evils ! Say, perverse and hypocritical race ! if these places are des- 
olate, if powerful cities are reduced to solitude, is it God who has 
caused their ruin 1 Is it his hand which has overthrown these walls, 
destroyed these temples, mutilated these columns, or is it the hand 
of man 1 Is it the arm of God which has canned the sword into 
your cities, and fire into your fields, which has slaughtered the peo- 
ple, burned die har\'ests, rooted up trees, and ravaged the pastures, 
or is it the hand of man 1 And when, after the destruction of crops, 
famine has ensued, is it the vengeance of God which has produced it, 
or the mad fury of mortals 1 When, sinking under famine, the peo- 
ple have fed on impure aliments, if pestilence ensues, is it the wrath 
of God which sends it, or the folly of man 1 When war, famine, 
and pestilence, have swept away die inhabitants, if the eardi remains 
a desert, is it God who has depopulated it 1 Is it his rapacity which 
robs the luisbandman, ravages die fruitful fields, and wastes the earth, 
or is it the rapacity of those who govern 1 Is it his pride which ex- 



28 THE RUINS. 

cites murderous wars, or the pride of kings and their ministers 1 Is 
it the venality of his decisions which overthrows the fortunes of fam- 
ilies, or the corruption of the organs of the law 1 Are tliey his 
passions which, under a thousand forms, torment individuals and 
nations, or are they tlie passions of man 1 And if, in the anguish of 
th^.ir miseries, tliey see not tlie remedies, is it the ignorance of God 
which is to blame, or their ignorance 1 Cease then mortals, to ac- 
cuse the decrees of Fate, or tlie judgments of tlie Divinity ! If God 
is good, will he be the author of your misery "? if he is just, will he 
be the accomplice of your crimes 1 No, the caprice of which man 
complains is not the caprice of destiny ; tlie darkness that misleads 
his reason is not the darkness of God ; die source df his calamities is 
not in the distant heavens, it is beside him on the eartli; it is. not 
concealed in tlie bosom of the divinity ; it resides in man himself, he 
bears it in his owti heart. 

" You murmur and say, Ho-w have an infidel people enjoyed the 
blessings of heaven and earth 1 Why is a holy and chosen race less 
fortunate than impious generations 1 Deluded man ! where tlien is 
the contradiction which offends you 1 Where is the inconsistency 
Avhich you impute to the justice of heaven 1 Take into your own 
hands the balance of rewards and punishments, of causes and effects. 
Say : when those infidels observed the laws of the heavens and of the 
earth, when tliey regulated their intelligent labors by the order of the 
seasons and course of the stars, ought God to have troubled the 
equilibrium of the universe to defeat tlieir pmdence 1 When their 
hands cultivated these fields with toil and care, should he have divert- 
ed the course of the rains, suspended the fertilizing dews, and caused 
thorns to spring up 1 When, to render these arid fields productive, 
their industry constructed acjueducts, dug canals, and led the distant 
waters across tlie desert, should he have dried up their sources in the 
mountains '{ Should he have blasted the harvests which art had cre- 
ated, wasted the plains which peace had peopled, overthrown cities 
which labor caused to flourish, disturbed in fine, tlie order establish- 
ed by the wisdom of man 1 And what is that infidelity which found- 
ed empires by prudence, defended them by valor, and strengthened 
them by justice ; which erected powerful cities, formed capacious 
ports, drained pestilential marshes, covered the sea witli ships, the 
earth with inhabitants ; and, like tlie creative spirit, diffused life and 
motion through the world 1 If such be infidelity, what then is the 
true faith 1 Does sanctity consist in destruction 1 The God who 



THE RUINS. 29 

peoples the air with birds, the eartli with animals, the waters with 
fishes; the God who animates all nature, is he tlien a God of ruins 
and tombs 1 Does he ask devastation for homage, and conflagratiop 
for sacwfice 1 Requires he groans for hymns, murderers for votaries, 
a ravaged and desert eaitli for liis temple 1 Yet such, holy and be- 
lieving people, are j'our works I These are the firuits of your piety ! 
You have massacred the people, burnt their cities, destroyed cultiva- 
tion, reduced the earth to a solitude ; and you ask ll\e reward of your 
works ! Miracles then must be performed, tlie laborers whom you 
cut off must be recalled to life, the walls reedified which you have 
overthrown, the harvests reproduced which you have destroyed, the 
waters gathered together which you have dispersed ; the laws, in fine, 
of heaven and eartli reversed ; those laws, established by God himself, 
in demonstration of his magnificence and wisdom; those eternal laws 
anterior to all codes, to all the prophets ; those immutaiile laws, 
which neither the passions, aor the ign.orance of man can pervert ; 
but that passion, which mistakes, that ignorance which observes not 
causes, and predicts no effect, has said m the folly of her heart : 
* Everything comes from chance ; a blind fatality dispenses goqd 
and evil on the earth, so that prudence and wisdom cannot guard 
against it.' Or else, assuming the language of hypocrisy, she has 
said : * All things are from God ; he takes pleasure in deceiving 
wisdom, and confounding reason ; ' and ignorance, applaud- 
ing herself in her malice, has said : ' Thus I shall not be inferior to 
that science which I detest : I will render useless that prudence which 
fatigues and torments me ;' and cupidity has added : ' I will oppress 
the weak and devour the fruits of his laboi^s ; and I will say : It is 
God who decreed and fate who ordained it so.* — But I ! I swear 
by tlie laws of heaven and earth, and by the law which is written in 
tlie heart of man, the hypocrite shall be deceived in his guile, the op- 
pressor in his rapacity ; the sun shall ch<inge his course, before folly 
shall prevail over wisdom and knowledge, or stupidity surpass pru- 
dence in the delicate and sublime art of procuring to man his true 
enjoyments, and of building his happiness on a solid foieidation '' 
8* 



so THE RUINS. 

CHAPIER IV. 

THE JE3XP0SITI0JS. 

Thus spoke tlie Phantom. Astonished at his discourse, and ray 
heart agitated witJi diflerent reflections, I was for sometime silent. 
At kngth, taking courage, I thus addressed him : " O Genius of 
tombs and ruins ! your presence, your severity have disordered my 
sehses ; but the justness of your reasoning restores confidence to my 
soul. Pardon n^y ignorance. Alas ! if man is blind, can tliat which 
constitutes his torment be also his crime 1 I may have mistaken the 
voice of reason ; but never knowingly have I rejected her authority. 
Ah ! if you read in my heart, you know with what sincerity, • witli 
what enth.usiasm it seeks Trulii — And is it not in pursuit of her tliat 
you see me in lliis secmestered spot 1 Alas ! I have wandered over 
the earth, I have visited cities and coimtries ; and seeing everywhere 
misery and desolation, a sense of the evils which oppress my fellow- 
men have deeply afflicted iny soul. I have said with a sigh : Is man 
then born but for sorrow and anguish 1 And I have meditated upon 
human miseries, that I might find out their remedy. I have said : I 
will separate myself from corrupt societies ; I v/ill retire far from 
palaces where the mind is depraved by satiety, and from the hovel 
where it is debased by misery. I will go into the desert and dwell 
among ruins; I will Interrogate ancient monuments on the wisdom of 
past times; I will invoke from the bosom of tiie tombs the spirit 
which once in Asia gave splojdor to states, and glory to nations. X 
will ask of the ashes of legislators, by what secret causes do empires 
rise and fall ; from what sou^rces spring the prosperity and misfortunes 
of nations ; on what principles can tlie peace of society and the hap- 
piness of man be established." 

I ceased ; and awaited in submissive silence to tlie reply of the 
Genius. " Peace and happiness,'* said he, " attend on him who 
practises justice ! Young man ! since your heart searches after truth 
with sincerity, since you can still recognise her tlirough the mist 6f 
prejudice, your prayer shall not be vain : I will unfold to your view 
that truth you invoke ; 1 will teach your reason that wisdom you are 
in search of; I will reveal to you the Wisdom of the tombs and the 



THE RUINS. 3 

science of ages. — Then approaching and laying his hand on my 
head : " Rise, mortalj" said he, " and extricate tliy senses from the 
dust in which tliou movest." — Suddenly a celestial flame seemed to 
dissolve the bands which fix us to the earth ; ajid like a light vapor, 
borne up on the wings of the Genius, I felt myself wafted to tlie re- 
gions above. Thence, from the aerial heights, looking down on tlie 
eartli, I beheld a scene entirely new. Under my feet, floating in 
the void, a globe like that of the moon, but smaller and less luiainous, 
presented to me one of its phases ;* and that phase had the aspect 
of a disk variegated with large spots, some white and nebulous, 
others brown, green or gray ; and while I strained my sight to distin- 
guish what were these spots : " Disciple of trutli," said the Genius, 
" do you know that object? " " O Genius !" answered I, " if I did 
not see the moon in another quarter of tlie heavens, I should have 
supposed tliat to be her globe ; it has tlie appearance of that planet, 
seen tlirough the telescope dm-ing the obscuration of an eclipse : these 
variegated spots might be mistaken for seas and continents." 

" They are seas and continents," said he, " and sliose of the very 
hemisphere which you inhabit. — " 

" What ! " said I., " is that the eartli, the habitation of man 1 — " 

" Yes," replied he : " that dusky space which occupies irregularly 
a great portion of the disk, and envelopes it almost on every side, is 
what you call the great Ocean, which advancing from tlie soutli pole 
towards the equator, forms first the great gulf of India and Africa, 
then extends eastward across the Malay islands to the confines of 
Tartary, while towards tlie west it encircles the continents of Africa 
and Europe, even to the north of Asia. 

"That square peninsula under our feet is the arid counti-y of 
ttie Arabs ; the great continent on its left, almost as nalied in its 
interior, with a little verdure only towards its borders is the 
parched soil inhabited by the black-men.t To tlie north, beyond 
a long, narrow and irregular sea,:}: are the countries of Europe, 
rich in meadows ^d cultivated fields ; on its right, from the 
Caspian, extend the snowy and naked plains of Tartar}'. Return- 
ing again this way, that white space is the vast and di'eary desert 
of Gobi, which separates China from the rest of the world. You 
see that empire in the furrowed plain which seems by a sudden obli- 
quity to escape from the view. On yonder coasts, those narrow 
* See plate II, representin?, half the terrestrial globe, 
t Africa. % The Mediterranean. 



32 THE RUINS. 

necks of land and scattered points are the peninsulas and islandit of 
the Malays, the wretched possessors of the spices and pei-fumes. 
That triangle which advances so far into the sea, is the too famous 
peninsula of India.* You see tiie winding couise of the Ganges, 
the rougli mountains of Tibet, the lovely valley of Kachemire, the 
briny deserts of Persia, the banks of the Euphrates, and Tygris, the 
deep bed of the Jordan, and the canals of the solitary Nile. — " 

" O Genius," said I, interrupting him, "die sight of a mortal reach- 
es not to objects at such a distance..." Inunediately he touched my 
eyes, and they became piercing as tliose of an eagle ; nevertheless 
the rivers still appeared like waving lines, tlie mountains winding 
furrows, and the cities little^ compartments like the squares of a 
chess-board. 

And the Genius proceeding to point out tlie objects to me : " Those 
piles," said he, "wliich you see in that narrow valley, watered by the 
Nile, are the skeletons of opulent cities, the pride of tlie ancient 
kingdom of Etliiopia ; behold Thebes with her hundred palaces,t 

* " The too famous peninsula of India." What real advantage does 
the commerce of India, composed entirely of articles of luxury, procure 
to the mass of a nation ? what are its effects, unless to export, by a ma- 
rine expensive in men, objects of necessity and utility, and to' import 
useless commodities, which only serve to mark more strongly the differ- 
ence between the ri Ji and poor ; and what a mass of superstition has 
not India added to the general superstition. 

« t " Behold Thebes with her hundred palaces." The French expedi- 
tion to Egypt has proved that Thebes, divided into four or five cities, 
on both banks of the Nile, could not have the hundred gales mentioned 
in Homer. ( See the 2nd. vol. of the commission of Egypt.) The his- 
torian Diodorus Siculus had already shown the cause of the error, by 
observing that the oriental word, gate, signified also a palace (onaccotmt 
of the public vestibule always at its entrance,) and this author seems to 
have understood the cause of the Greek tradition, when he adds : " From 
Thebes to Memphis, there were along the river a hundred royal stables, 
the ruins of which are still to be seen, and which contained each two 
hundred horses (for the service of the monarch :)" all these are exactly 
t'lie same numbeis as Homer's. (See Diodorus Siculus, book 1st. sect 
11, § of the first kings of Egypt.) The name of Ethiopians here applied 
to the Thebans, is justified by the example of Homer, and by the really 
black color of that people. The expressions of Herodotus, when he says 
that the Egyptians had a black skin and woolly-hair, coinciding with 
the head of the sphinx of the pyramids, necessarily induced the author 
of Travels in Syria to believe," that this ancient people was of negro 
race , but all the mummies and engraved heads discovered by the French 
expedition contradtct this idea ; and the traveller, yielding to evidence^ 
has abandoned his opinv)n, with several others consigned in a chrono- 
logical memoir, composed at the age of twenty-two, and which was er- 
roneously inserted in the Encyclopedia in 4to. 3 \ol. of Antiquities 
Experience and study have enabled him to correct many errors, in a 
late work published at Paris, in 1814 and 1815, entitled New Researches 
on Ancient History. (See the 3 vjI concerning the Egyptians.) 



THE RUINS. 33 

that fii'st metropolis of the arts and sciences, the mysterious cradle of 
so many opinions which still govern man without his knowledge 
Lower down, those quadrangular blocks are the pyramids whose 
masses have astonished you ; fartlier on, the coast, hemmed in be- 
tween the sea and a narrow ridge of mountains, was the habitation 
of the Phoenicians ; there stood tlie powerful cities of Tyre, of Sidon, 
of Ascalon, of Gaza, and of Berytus. This stream of water without 
an issue is the river Jordan, and those naked rocks were once tlie 
theatre of events which have resounded through tlie world. Behold 
that desert of Horeb, and that Mount-Sinai, where, by means un- 
known to the vulgar, a profound and adventurous leader created in- 
stitutions whose influence extended to the whole human race. On 
that barren shore which borders it, you see no longer any trace of 
splendor ; yet there was an emporium of riches. There were those 
famous Idumeao ports,* whence the fleets of Phoenicia and Judea, 
coasting the Arabian peninsula, penetrated into the Persian gulf, to 
seek there die pearls of Hevila, the gold of Saba and of Ophir. 
Yes, on that coast of Oman and of Bahrain was the seat of a com- 
merce of luxuries, which, by its fluctuations and revolutions, fixed 
the destinies of ancient nations : thither came the spices and precious 
stones of Ceylon, the shawls of Kachemire, the diamonds of Golcon- 
da, the amber of the Maldives, the musk of Tibet, the aloes of Co- 
chin, tlie apes and peacocks of tlie Indian continent, the incense of 
Hadramant, the myrrh, tlie silver, the gold-dust and ivory of Africa : 
thence passing, sometimes by die Red sea, on the vessels of Egypt 
and Syria, these luxuries nourished successively the wealth of Thebes, 
of Sidon, of Memphis and of Jerusalem j sometimes, ascending the 
Tygris and Euphrates, they excited the activity of die Assyrian?, 
Medes, Kaldeans and Persians ; and diat wealth, according to die 
use or abuse of it, raised or reversed alternately dieir domination. 
To tills is to be attributed the magnificence of Persepolis, whose 
columns you still perceive ; of Ecbatana, whose sevenfold wall ex- 
ists no more ; of Babylon, now level with die groimd ; of Nineveh, 
whose name is scarce remembered ; of Thapsacus, of Anatho, of 
Gerra, and die desolated Palmyra. O names, forever glorious ! fields 
of renown, illustrious countries ! what sublime lessons does your as- 

* " There were those famous Idumean ports." The cities of Ailah 
and Atsiom-Gaber, whence the Jews of Solomon, guided by the Tyrians 
of Hiram, set out on their voyage to Ophir, an unknown place concern- 
ing which a great deal has been written, but which appears to have left 
some traces in Ofor, an Arabian district, at the entrance of the Persian 
gulf. (See New Researches, vol. 1, and Travels in Syria, vol. 2.) 



J4 THE RUINS. 

peel offer ! what profound truths are written on the siu-face of yom 
sail ! remembrances of tunes past, recur to my mind, places, wit- 
nesses of tlie life of man in so many different ages, retrace for me 
the revolutions of his fortune ! say, what were their springs and se- 
cret Causes ! say from what sources he derived success and disgrace ! 
unveil to himself the causes of his evils ! correct him by the spectacle 
of his errors ! teach him the wisdom which belongeth to him, and 
let the experience of 'past ages become a mirror of instruction, and 
a germ of happiness to present and future generations !" 



CHAPTER V. 

CONDETION OF MAN IN THE UNIVERSE. 

A.FTER a short silence, the Genius resumed in these words : 
I have told you already, O friend of truth, that man vainly ascribes 
his misfortunes to obscure and imaginary agents ; in vain he seeks 

fof mysterious and remote causes of his ills In the general order 

of the universe, his condition is doubtless subject to inconveniences, 
and. his existence overruled by superior powers : but those powers 
"are neither the decrees of a blind fatality, nor the caprices of whim- 
sical and fantastic beings ; like the world of which he forms a part, 
man is governed by natural laws, regular in their course, consistent 
in their effects, immutable in their essence; and those laws, the 
common source of good and evil, are not written among the distant 
stars, or hidden in mysterious codes: inherent in the nature of ter- 
restrial beiqgs, interwoven with their existence, they are at all times 
and in all places present to man, they act upon his senses, they warn 
his understanding, and dispense to every action its reward or punish- 
ment. Let man then study these laws ! let him comprehend his 
own nature, and the nature of the beings that surround him, and he 
will know the regulators of his destiny; the causes of his evils, and 
the remedies he ought to apply. 

When the secret power, which animates tlie universe, formed the 
globe of the earth, he implanted in the beings by whom it is inhabit- 



THE RUINS. 



36 



ed, essential properties which became the law of their individual 
motion, the bound of their reciprocal relations, tlie cause of the har- 
mony of the whole ; he thereby established a regular order of causes 
and effectSj of principles and consequences, which, under an appear- 
ance of chance, governs the universe, and maintains the equilibrium 
of the world : thus, lie gave to fire motion and activity ; to air, elas- 
ticity; weight and density to matter; he made air lighter than water, 
metal heavier fhan earth, wood less cohesive than steel ; he ordered 
the flame to ascend, stones to fall, plants to vegetate ; man, who was 
to be exposed to the action of so many different beings, and whose 
frail life was nevertheless to be presen-ed, was endowed with the 
faculty of sensation. By this faculty, all action hurtful to his exis- 
tence gives him a feeling of pain and evil ; and every favorable ac- 
tion an impression of pleasure and happiness. By tliese sensations, 
man, sometimes averted from that which wounds his senses, some- 
times allured towards that which soothes them, has been obliged to 
cherish and preserve his own life. Thus, self-love, the desii;e of 
happiness, aversion to pain, are the essential and primary laws im- 
posed on man by kature herself; the laws which die directing 
poAver, whatever it be, has established lor his government, and Avhich, 
like those of motion in the physical world, are the simple and fruit- 
ful principle of whatever happens in the moral world. 

Such then is the condition of man : on one side exposed to the ac- 
tion of the elements which surround him, he is subject to many in- 
evitable evils : and if in this decree Nature has been severe, on the 
other liand, just and even indulgent, she has not only tempered the 
evils with equivalent good, she has even enabled him to augment the 
good and alleviate the evil : she seems to say : " Feeble work of my 
hands, I owe you nothing, and I give you life ; the world wherein I 
placed you was not made for you, yet I grant you the use of it ; you 
will faid in it a mixture of good and evil ; it is for yoii to distinguish 
them, and to direct your footsteps in the paths of flowers and thorns. 
Be tlie arbiter of your own lot ; I put your destiny into your hands." 
— Yes, man is made tlie artisan of his own destiny; it is he who has* 
alternately created the buccesscs or reverses of his fortune : and if,, 
on a review of all the pains with which he has tormented his life, he 
finds reason to weep over his own weakness or imprudence, yet, 
considering the beginnings from which he set outj and the height 
attained, perhaps he has more reason to presume on his strength 
and to pride himself on his genius. 



36 THE RUINS. 

CHAPTER VI 

THB^ PRIMITIVE STATE OF MAN. 

At first, formed naked both in body and mind, man found himBelf, 
tlirown, as it \i'ere by chance, on a confused and savage land ; an or- 
phan, abandoned by the unknown power that produced him, he saw 
no supernatural beings at hand to wai n him of those wants wbich 
arise only from his senses, or to instruct him in those duties, which 
spring only from his wants. Like to other animals, without experi- 
ence of the past, witliout foresight of the future, he ^vande^ed in tlie 
depth of the forest, guided only and governed by the affections of hia 
nature ; by the pain of hunger, he was led to seek food, and provide 
for his subsistence ; by the inclemency of the air, he was urged to 
cover his body, and he made him cloriies ; by the attraction of a pow- 
erfiil pleasure, he approached a fellow being, and he perpetuated his 
race. 

Thus, the inipressions which he received from every object, awa- 
kening his facfcilties, developed by degrees his understanding, and be- 
gan to instruct his profound ignorance; his wants excited industry, 
dangers formed his courage ; he learned to distinguish useful from 
noxious plants, to combat the elemeats, to pursue his prey, to defend 
his life ; and he thus alleviated its miseries. 

Thus, self-love, aversion to pain, the desire of happiness were the 
simple and powerful incentives which drew man from the savage and 
barbarous state in which nature had placed him j and now when his 
life is replete witli enjoyments, when he may count every day by the 
comforts it brings, he may applaud himself and say : " It is I who 
have produced the blessings that encompass me ; it is I who am the 
fabricator of my own felicity ; a safe dwelling, convenient clotliing, 
wholesome and abundant nourishment, smiling fields, fertile hills, 
populous empires, all is my work ; without me, this earth given up to 
disorder, would have been but a filthy fen, a savage forest, and a hid- 
eous desert." Yes, cr7ative man; receive my homage ! tliou hast 
measured the expanse of the heavens, calculated the volume of the 
stars, arrested the lightning in its clouds, subdued seas and storms, 
subjected all the elements. Ah ' how are so many sublime 
allied to so maoY errors ! 



THE RUINS. S7 

CHAPTER VII. 

PRIJNCIPLES OP SOCIETY 

Wandering in woods, and on the banks of rivers, in pursuit of 
game and fish, the first men, beset with dangers, assailed by enemies, 
tormented by hunger, by reptiles, and ravenous beasts, felt their own 
individual weakness ; and impelled by a common need of safety and 
a reciprocal sentiment of like evils, they miited their resources and 
their strengtli ; and when one incurred a danger, many aided and re- 
lieved him ; when one wanted subsistence, another shared his prey 
with him; thus men associated to secure their existence, to augment 
their powers, to protect their enjoyments ; and self-love became the 
principle of society. 

Instructed afterwards by the experience of various and repeated 
accidents, by the fatigues of a wandering life, by the distress of fre- 
quent scai-city, men reasoned with themselves, and said : " Why 
weary ourselves in search of tlie scattered fruits which a parsimoni 
ous soil affords 1 why exhaust ourselves in pursuing prey which eludes 
us in the woods or waters 1 why not cobect under our hands the ani- 
mals that nourish us *? why not apply our cares to multiply and pre- 
serve them 1 We will feed on their increase, be clothed in their skins, 
and live exempt from the fatigues of the day, and solicitude for the 
morrow." And men, aiding one anotlier, seized the nimble goat, 
the timid sheep ; they tamed the patient camel, the ferocious bull, the 
impetuous horse ; and, applauding their own industry, they sat down 
in the joy of their souls, and began to taste repose and comfort ; and 
self-love, the principle of all reasoning, became the instigator to every 
art, and every enjoyment. 

When men could thus pass their days in leisure, and the communi- 
cation of their ideas, tliey began to contemplate the earth, the heavens, 
and their own existence, as objects of curiosity and reflection ; they 
remarked the course of tlie seasons, the action of the elements, the 
properties of fruits and plants, and applied tlieir thoughts to tlie mul- 
tiplication of their enjoyments. And in some countries, having ob- 
served that certain seeds contgjned a wholesome nourishment in a 
small volume, convenient for transportation and preservation, they 
4 



38 THE RUINS. 

imitated the process of nature ; tliey confided to the earth rice, barley, 
and wheat, which multiplied so as to answer tlieir most sanguine 
hopes ; and having found the means of obtaining within a small 
compass, and without removal, plentiful subsistence and durable 
stores, they prepared for tliemselves fixed habitations; they con- 
structed houses, villages and tovms ; formec! societies and nations j 
and self-love produced all the developeraents of genius and of power. 
Thus, by the sole aid of his faculties, man has been able to raise 
himself to the astonishing height of his present fortune. Too happy 
if, observing scrupulously the law of his being, he had faitlifully ful- 
filled its only and true object ! But, by a fatal imprudence, sometimes 
mistaking, sometimes transgressing its limits, he has launched forth 
into a labyrinth of errors and rnisfortunes ; and self-love, sometimes 
unruly, sometimes blind, became an abundant source of calamities. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SOURCE OF TtE EVILS OF SOCIETIES. 

In truth, scarcely were tlie faculties of men developed, when in- 
veigled by the attraction of objects which gratify the senses, they 
gave themselves up to inordinate desires. The sweet sensations 
which NATURE had attached to their real wants, to endear to them 
their existence, no longer satisfied them : not content with the fruits 
offered by the earth, or produced by industry, they wished to accu- 
mulate enjoyments, and coveted those possessed by their fellow-men : 
and the strong man rose up against tlie feeble, to take from hira the 
profit of his labor : the feeble invoked another feeble one to repel 
the violence ; and two strong ones then said : " Why fatigue our- 
selves to produce enjoyments which we may find in the hands of 
the weak 1 Let us join and despoil them ; they shall labor for us, 
and W( will enjoy without labor." And the strong associating for 
oppression, and the weak for resistance, men mutually afflicted each 
other ; atid a general and fatal discord spread over the earth, in 



THE RUINS. 39 

which tlie passions, assuming a thousand new forms,- have never 
ceased to generate a continued series of calamities. 

Thus tije same self-love which, moderate and prudent, was a prin- 
ciple of happiness and perfection, becoming blind and disordinate, 
was transformed into a corrupting poison : and cupidity, oflsprino' and 
companion of ignorance, became tlie cause of all the evils whichhave 
desolated the earth. 

Yes, Ignorance and Cupidity ! these are the twin sources ot 
all that torments the existence of man ! biassed by tliese into false 
ideas of happiness, he has mistaken or infringed the laws of nature 
in his own relations with external objects, and injuring his existence, 
he has violated individual morality; siuitting through tiiese his heart 
to compassion, and his mind to justice, he has persecuted and afflic- 
ted his equal, and violated social morality. Through ignorance and 
cupidity man has armed against man, family against family, tribe 
against tribe, and the earth is become a theatre of blood, of discord 
and of rapine ; by ignorance and cupidity, a secret war, fermenting 
in th* bosom of every State, has separated citizen from citizen; and 
the same society is constituted of oppressors and oppivessed, of mas- 
ters and slaves : by these, the heads of a nation, sometimes insolent 
and audacious, have forged its chains within its own bowels, and 
mercenary avarice has founded political despotism : sometimes, hypo- 
critical and deceitful, they have called from heaven a lying power, 
and a sacrilegious yoke ; and credulous cupidity has founded religious 
despotism ; by these in fine have been perverted the ideas of good aiul 
evil, just and unjust, vice and virtue; and nations have wandered in 
a labyrinth of errors and calamities. — The cupidity of man, and his 
ignorance ; — These are the evil genii that have laid waste the earth ! 
These are the decrees of fate which have overthrown empires ! These 
are the celestial anathemas Avhich have smitten these walls once so 
glorious, and converted the splendor of a populous city into a solitude 
of mourning and of ruins ! — But as in the bosom of man have sprung 
all tlie Qvils which afflict his life, there also he is to seek and to find 
a remedy for them. 



40 THE RUINS 



CHAPTER IX. 

ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS 

In fact, the period soon arrived when men, tired of the evils they 
occasioned each other, began to sigh for peace ; and reflecting on the 
natui'e of their misfortunes, they said : " We mutually injure each 
other by our passions ; and from a desire to grasp everything, we in 
reality possess nothing; what one seizes to-day another robs to-mor- 
row, and our cupidity reacts upon ourselves. Let us establish arbi- 
trators to judge our claims, and settle our differences. When the 
strong rises up against the weak, the arbitrator shall restrain him, 
and dispose of our force to suppress violence; and the life and prop- 
erty of each shall be under the guarantee and protection of all, and 
all shall enjoy the blessings of nature." 

Conventions were thus formed in society, sometimes express, some- 
times tacit, which became the rule of the actions of individuals, the 
measure of their rights, the law of their reciprocal relations ; and 
persons were appointed to superintend their observance, and to these 
the people confided the balance of rights, and the sword to punish 
transgressions. 

Then was established among individuals a happy equilibrium of 
force and action, which constituted the common security. The name 
of equity and of justice was recognised and revered over the earth ; 
every man, assured of enjoying in peace the fruits of his toil, exerted 
all the energies of his soul ; and industry, excited and maintained by 
the reality or the hope of enjoyment, developed all the treasures of 
nature and of art; the fields were covered with harvests, the valleys 
with flocks, the hills with fruits, the sea with vessels, and man was 
happy and powerful upon the earth. 

Thus did his own wisdom repair the disorder which his imprudence 
had occasioned ; and that wisdom was only the effect of his own or- 
ganization. It was to secure his own enjoyments that he respected 
those of others ; and cupidity found its corrective in an enlightened 
self-love. 

Thus the»love of self, the moving principle of every individual, be- 
came the necessary basis of every association ; and on the observance 



THE RUINS. V 41 

of this natural law depended the fate of nations. Have the factitious 
and conventional laws tended to tliat object and accomplished its 
aim 1 Every man, impelled by a powerful instinct, has displayed all 
tlie faculties of his being; and the sum of individual felicities has 
constituted the general felicity. Have these laws on the contrary 
impeded the effort of man towards his happiness 1 His heai-t depri- 
ved of its exciting principle, has languished in inaction, and from the 
discouragement of the individucd has proceeded the weakness of the 
state. 

As self-love, impetuous and improvident, is ever urging man against 
his equal, and consequently tends to dissolve society, the art of legis- 
lation and the merit of administrators consists in attempering the 
conflict of individual cupidities, in maintaining an equilibrium of 
powers, and securing to every one his happiness, in order that, In the 
shock of society against society, all the members may have a common 
interest in tlie preservation and defence of the public weal. 

Therefore the internal splendor 'and prosperity of empires, were 
owing to the equity of their laws and government ; and their relative 
external powers have been in proportion to the number of individu- 
als interested, and to the degree of their interest in the public weal. 

On the other hand, the multiplication of men, by complicating their 
relations, having rendered the precise limitation of their rights diffi- 
cult ; the perpetual play of their passions having produced unforeseen 
incidents ; their conventions having been vicious, inadequate or nu- 
gatory ; in fine, the authors of the laws having sometimes mistaken, 
sometimes disguised their object ; and their ministers, instead of re- 
straining the cupidity of others, having been hurried away by their 
own ; all those causes have introduced disorder and trouble into soci- 
eties ; and vicious laws and unjust governments, the result of cupidity 
and ignorance, have caused the raisfortupes of nations, suid tlie sub- 
version of States. 

i* 



42 THE RUINS. 



CHAPTER X. 



GENERAL CAUSES OF THE PROSPERITY OP ANCIENT 
STATES. 

Such, O youth who seekeat wisdom, have been the causes of revo- 
lution in the ancient States of which tliou contemplatest tlie ruins! 
To whatever spot I direct my view, to whatever period my tlioughts 
recur, the same principles of growth or destruction, of rise or fall, 
present 'themselves to my mind. Wherever a people is powerful, or 
an empire prosperous, there tJie conventional laws are conformable 
with the laws of nature : the government there procures for its citi- ■ 
zens a free use of their faculties, equal security for their persons and 
property. If, on the contrary, an empire goes to ruin, or dissolves, 
it is because its laws have been vicious, or imperfect, or trodden un- 
der foot by a corrupt government. If the laws and government, at 
first wise and just, degenerate afterwards, it is because the alterna- 
tion of good and evil derives from the nature of tlie heart of man, the 
succession of his propensities, his progress in knowledge, and the 
combination of circumstances and events, as is proved by the history 
of the human species. 

In the infancy of nations, when men yet lived in the forest, subject 
to the same wants, endowed with the same faculties, all were nearly 
equal in strength ; and that equality was a circumstance highly advan- 
tageous in the composition of society ; every individual thus finding 
himself sufficiently independent of every other, no one was the slave, 
and no one thought of bein^ tlie master of another. Untaught man 
knew neither servitude nor tyranny; fiu'nished with resources suffi- 
cient for his existence, he thought not of borrowing from others. 
Owing nothing, exacting nothing, he judged the rights of otliers by 
his own, and acquired precise notions of justice ; ignorant, moreover, 
in the art of enjoyments, unable to produce more than his necessaries, 
possessing nothing superfluous, cupidity lay dormant ; or if excited, 
man, attacked in his real wants, resisted it with energy, and the very 
foresight of such resistance maintained a salutary equilibrium. 

Thus original equality, without a compact, secured personal liber- 
ty, respect for projjerty, morality and good order. Every man la- 



J^ 



THE RUINS. 43 

bored by himself and for himself; and his heart being occupied, 
wandered not to culpable desires : his enjoyments were few but liis 
Avants were satisfied ; and as indulgent nature had made them less 
than his resources, the labor of his hands soon produced abundance; 
abundance population : the arts developed themselves, cultivation 
extended, and the eardi, covered with numerous inhabitants, waa 
divided into different domains. 

The relations of men becoming complicated, tlie internal order of 
societies was more difficult to maintain. Time and industry having 
created affluence, cupidity became more vigilant, and because equal- 
ity, practicable among individuals, could not subsist among families, 
tlie natural equilibrium was broken : it became necessary to substi- 
tute a factitious equilibrium in its place ; to appoint rulers, to estab- 
lish laws ; and in the primitive inexperience, it necessarily happeaed 
that these laws, occasioned by cupidity, assumed its character ; but 
different circumstances concurred to correct the disorder, and impose 
on governments the necessity of being just. 

States, in fact, being weak at first, and having foreign enemies to 
fear, tlie chiefs found it their interest, not to oppress their subjects ; 
for, by lessening the confidence of the citizens in their government, 
they would diminisft their means of resistance ; they would facilitate 
foreign invasion, and, for superfluous enjoyments, endanger tlieirvery 
existence. 

In the interior, the character of the people was repugnant to 
tyranny ; men had contracted too long habits of independence ; tliey 
had too few wants, and too great a consciousness of their own 
strength. 

States being of small extent, it was difficult to divide their citizens 
so as to oppress some by means of others : tlieir communications were 
too easy, and their interests too simple and evident. Besides, every 
man being at once proprietor and cultivator, no one was induced to 
sell himself, and the despot could find no mercenaries. 

If dissensions arosq, they Avere between family and family, faction 
and faction, and they interested a great number; the troubles indeed 
were warmer, but fears from abroad pacified discord : if the oppression 
of a party prevailed, the earth being still unoccupied, and man, still in 
a state of simplicity, fmding everywhere the same advantages, the 
injured party emigrated, and carried elsewhere their independence. 

■ The ancient States then enjoyed witliin themselves numerous means 
of prosperity and power : every man finding his own well-being in 



44 THE RUINS. 

the constitution of his country, took a lively interest in its preserva- 
tion ;,if a stranger attacked it,, having to defend his field, his house, 
he carried into combat all the animosity of a personal quarrel, and 
devoted to his own interests, he was devoted to his country. 

As every action useful to the public, attracted its esteem and gra- 
titude, every one was eager to be useful, and self-love multiplied tal- 
ents and civic virtues. 

Every citizen contributing equally by his goods and his person, 
armies and funds were inexliaustible, and nations displayed formida- 
ble masses of power. 

The earth being free, and its possession secure and easy, every 
man was a proprietor ; £^nd the division of property preserved mor- 
als, and rendered luxury impossible. 

Every one cultivating for himself, culture was more active, pro- 
duce more abundant, and individual opulence constituted public 
wealth. 

The abundance of produce rendering subsistence easy, population 
was rapid and numerous, and States attained quickly the term of 
their plenitude. 

Productions increasing beyond consumption, the necessity of com- 
merce was felt, and exchanges tock place between people and peo- 
ple, which augmented their activity and reciprocal advantages. 

In fine, certain countries, at certain times, uniting the advantages 
of good government with a position on the route of the most active 
circulation, they became emporiums of flourishing commerce and 
seats of powerful domination. And on the banks of the Nile and 
Mediterranean, of the Tygris and Euphrates, the accumulated riches 
of India and of Europe raised in successive splendor a hundred me- 
tropolises. 

The people, growing rich, applied their superfluity to works of 
common and public use j and this was, in every State, the epoch of 
those works, whose grandeur astonishes the mind ; of those wells of 
Tyi'e, of those dykes of the Euphrates, of those f;ubterranean conduits 
of Media,* of those fortresses of the desert, of those aqueducts of 
Palmyra, of those temples, those porticos. — And such labors might 
be immense, vi'ithout oppressing the nations, because they were the 
effiect of an equal and common contribution of the force of men ani- 
mated and free. 

* See respecting these facts my Travels into Syria, v. II, and New 
Researches on ancient history, v. Ill 



THE RUINS. 45 

Thus ancient States prospered, because their social institutions 
were conformable to the true laws of nature, and because men en- 
joying liberty and security for their persons and their property, could 
display all the extent of their faculties, all the energies of their self- 
love. 



CHAPTER XI. 

GENERAL CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTIONS AND RUIN 
OF ANCIENT STATES. 

Cupidity liad nevertheless excited among men a constant and 
luiiversal conflict, which incessantly prompting individuals and so- 
cieties to reciprocal invasions, occasioned successive revolutions, and 
returning agitations. 

And first, in the savage and barbarous state of the first men, this 
inordinate and audacious cupidity produced rapine, violence, assas- 
sination ; and retarded for a long time, the progi'ess of civilisation. 

When afterwai'ds societies began to be formed, the effect of bad 
habits, conununjeated to laws and governments, corrupted tlieir in- 
stitutions and objects, and established arbitrary and factitious rights; ■ 
wr.ich depraved the ideas of justice, and the morality of the people. 

ThHs one man being stronger than another, their inequality, an 
accident of natme, was taken for her law ;* and the strong having 
spared the weak whose life was in his power, arrog-ated over his 
person an abusive right of property, and the slave/y of individuals 
prepared the way for the slavery of nations. 

Because the head of a family could exercise an absolute autliorify 
in his own house, he made his affections and desires the sole rule of 

* " Thus, one man being stronger than another, their Inequality, an 
accident of nature, was taken for her law." Almost all the ancient phi- 
losophers and politicians have laid it down as a principle that men are 
born unequal ; that nature has created some to be free and others to be 
slaves. These are the positive expressions of Aristotle in his Politics j 
and of Plato, cafled the divine, doubtless in the same sense as the my- 
thological reveries which he promulgated. With all the people of anti- 
quity, the Gauls, the Romans, the Athenians, the right of the strongest 
was the right of nations ; and from the same principle are derived all 
political, disorders and public national crimes. 



46 THE RUINS. 

his conduct : he gave or resumed his goods without equality, without 
Justice, and paternal despotism laid the foundation of despotism in 
government.* And in societies formed on such foundations, when 
time and labor had developed riches, cupidity, restrained by the laws, 
became more artful, but not less active. Under tlie mask of union 
and civil peace, it fomented, in the bosom of every State, an intes- 
tine war, in which the citizens, divided into contending corps of 
professions, classes and families, unremittingly struggled to appropri- 
ate to themselves, under the name of supreme power, the ability of 
plundering everything and rendering everything subsei-vient to the 
dictates of their passions ; and this spirit of encroachment, disguised 
under all possible forms, but always the same in its object and mo- 
tives, has been the perpetual scourge of nations. 

Sometimes opposing the social compact, or infringing tliat which 
already existed, it committed the inhabitants of a country to the tu- 
multuous shock of all their discords ; and States thus dissolved, anr^ 
reduced to the condition of anarchy, were tormented by the passions 
of all their members. 

Sometimes a nation, jealous of its liberty, having appointed agents 
to administer, these agents assumed to themselves the powers of 
which they were only the guardians : and employed the public treas- 
ures in corrupting elections, gaining partisans, and dividing the peo- 
ple against itself. By these means, from being temporary they 
became perpetual ; from elective, hereditary : and the State agitated 
by the intrigues of the ambitious, by largesses from the rich and fac- 
tious, by the venality of the indolent poor, by the empiricism of ora- 
tors, by the boldness of perversity, and the weakness of the virtuous, 
was convulsed with all the inconveniences of democracy .. 

In some countries, the chiefs, equal in strength and mutually fearing 
each other, formed impious pacts, nefarious associations : and por- 
tioning out power, rank and honors, arrogated to themselves privi- 
leges and immunities : erected themselves into separate orders and 

* " And paternal despotism laid the foundation of despotism in gov- 
ernment."— What is a family ? an elementary portion of that great body 
called nation The spirit of this great body is but the sum of its frac- 
tions; as the manners of the family are, sq are the manners of the whole. 
The great vices of Asia are, 1, paternal despotism ; 2, polygamy, which 
demoralizes the entire family, and which, among kings and princes, 
causes the massacre of the brothers at each succession, and ruins the 
people in appanages ; 3, the want of landed property, owing to the ty- 
nnnical riaiit usurped by the despot; 4, the unequal portioning of chil- 
dicii ; 5, the abusive right of legacies ; and 6, the exclusion of women 
from the inheritance. Change these laws, and you change Asia 



THE RUINS. 47 

distinct classes ; united in enslaving tlie people ; and under the name 
of aristocracy, the State was tormented by the passions of the wealthy 
and the great. 

In other countries, tending by other means to the same object, sa- 
cred impostors have taken advantage of the credulity of the ignorantt 
In tlie gloom of their temples, behind tiie curtain of the altar, they 
made their gods act and speak, delivered oracles, worked miracles, 
ordered sacrifices, levied offerings, prescribed endowments, and, un- 
der the names of theocracy and religion, the States were tormented 
by the passions of the priests. 

Sometimes a nation, weary of its dissensions or of its tyrants, to 
lessen the sources of evil, submitted to a single master : but, if it 
limited his powers, his sole aim was to enlarge them : if it left them 
indefinite, he abused the trust confided to him ; and, under the name 
of monarchy, the State was tormented by tlie passions of kings, and 
princes. 

Then the factions, availing themselves of tlie general discontent, 
flattered the people with the hope of a better master, dealt out gifts 
and promises, deposed the despot to take his place ; and tlieir con- 
tests for the succession, or its partition, tormented the State witli 
the disorders and devastations of civil war. 

In fine, among these rivals, one more artful or more fortunate, 
gained the ascendency, and concentrated all power within himself: 
by a strange phenomenon, a single individual mastered millions of 
his equals against their will or witliout their consent, and the art of 
tyranny was also the offspring of cupidity. In fact, observing the 
spirit of egotism which incessantly divides mankind, the ambitious 
man fomented it witli dexterity ; flattered the vanity of one, excited 
the jealousy, of another, favored the avarice of this, inflamed the 
resentment of that, and irritated the passions of all, then, placing in 
opposition their interests and prejudices, he sowed divisions and 
hatreds, promised to the poor the spoils of the rich, to the rich the 
subjection of tlie poor, threatened one jpan bj' another, this class 
by that; and insulating all by distrust, created his strength by their 
weakness, and imposed the yoke of opinion, which they mutually 
rivetted on each other. With the army he levied contributions, and 
with contributions he disposed of the army ; lavishing wealth and 
office on these principles, he enchained a whole people in indisso- 
luble bonds, and they languished under the slow consumption of 
despotism. 



48 THE RUINS. 

Thus did a same principle, varying its action under every possible 
form, unremittingly attenuate the consistence of Slates, and an eter- 
nal circle of vicissitudes flowed from an eternal circle of passions. 

And this constant spirit of egotism and usurpation produced two 
principal eft'ects equally destructive : the one, a division and subdivi- 
sion of societies into their smallest fractions, inducing a debility which 
facilitated their dissolution ; the other, a persevering tendency to con- 
centrate power in a single hand,* which, by a successive absorption 
of societies and States, was fatal to their peace and social existence. 

Thus, as in a Stale, a party absorbed the nation, a family the 
party, and an individual the family ; so a movement of absorption 
took place between State and State, and exhibited on a larger scale 
in the political order, all the particular evils of the civil order. Thus 
a state having subdued a state, held it in subjection in the form of 
a province ; and two provinces, one of which had swallowed up the 
other, formed a kingdom : finally, two kingdoms being united by con- 
quest, gave birth to empires of gigantic size; and in this conglomer- 
ation, the internal strength of States, instead of increasing, dimin- 
ished ; and the condition of the people, instead of ameliorating, be- 
came daily more irksome and wretched, from causes constantly derived 
from the nature of things. 

Because, in proportion as States increased in extent, tlieir admin- 
istration becoming more difficult and complicated, greater energies 
of power were necessary to move such masses, and there Avas no 
longer any proportion between the duties of sovereigns and their 
ability to perform their duties : 

Because despots, feeling their weakness, feared whatever might 
develope tiie strength of nations, and studied only how to enfeeble 
them : . 

Because nations, divided by the prejudices of ignorance and hatred, 
seconded by the perversity of governments ; and availing themselves 
reciprocally of satellites, aggravated their mutual slavery : 

% 
* " The other, a persevering? tendency to concentrate power in a sin- 
gle hand." — It is remarkable that this has in all instances been the con- 
stant progress of societies •, beginning with a state of anarchy or de- 
mocracy, that is with a great division of power, they have passed to 
aristocracy, and from aristocracy to monarchy ; does it not follow from 
this historical fact that those wiio constitute States under the deinoci-atic 
form, destine them to undergo all the intervening troubles between that 
<ind monarchy : but it should at tlie same time be proved that social ex- 
perience is already exhausted for the human race, and that this sponta- 
neous movement is not solely the effect of ignorance 



THE RUINS. 49 

Because, the balance between States being destroyed, the strong 
more easily oppressed the weak : , 

Finally, l)ecaiise in proportion as States were concentrated, the 
people, despoiled of tlieir laws, of dieir usages, and of the governments 
that suited them best, lost that spirit of personal identification with 
tile government which gave tliem energy. 

And despots, considering empires as tlieir private domains, a«d 
the people as their property, abandoned themselves to depredations 
and to all the licentiousness of the most arbitrary authority. 

And all the strength and wealth of nations were diverted to pri . 
rate expense and personal caprice; and kings, fatigued with gratifi- 
cation, launched into all the extravagances of a factitious and de- 
praved taste ; they must have gardens erected upon arcades, rivers 
raised over mountains, fertile fields convew^^ed into haunts for wild 
beasts, lakes scooped in diy lands, rocks elevated in lakes, palaces 
built of marble and porphyry, furniture of gold and diamonds. Un- 
der the cloak of religion, their pride founded temples, endowed indo- 
lent priests, built, for vain skeletons, extravagant tombs, mausoleums 
and pyramids ; * millions of hands were employed in sterile labors ; 
and tlie luxury of princes, imitated by tlieir parasites, and descending 
step by step to the lowest ranks, became a general source of corrup- 
tion and impoverishment. 

And, in the insatiable thirst of enjoyment, the ordinary revenues 
no longer sufficing, they were augmented ; the cultivator seeing his 
labors increase without retribution, was disheartened ; the meuchant 
despoiled, was disgusted with industry ; the multitude condemned to 

* " Extravagant tombs, mausoleums and pyramids."— The learned 
Dupuis could not be persuaded that the pyramids were tombs ; but be 
sides the positive testimony of historians, read what Diodorus says of tha 
religious and superstitious importance every Egyptian attached to build 
ing his eternal dwelling, b. 1. 

During twenty years, says Herodotus, a hundred thousand men labor 
ed every day to build the pyramid of the Egyptian king Cheops.— Sup 
posing only three hundred days a year, on account of the sabbath, there 
will be 30 millions of dayswork in a year, and 600 millions in twenty 
years ; at 15 sous a day, this makes 450 millions of franks lost without 
any further benefit.— With this sum, if the king had shut the isthmus of 
Suez by a strong wall, like that of China, the destinies of Egypt might 
have been entirely changed. Foreign invasions would have been stop 
ped, prevented, and the Arabs of the desert would neither have conquered 
nor harassed that country. — Sterile labors ! how many millions lost in 
putting one stone upon another, under the form of tempjes and churches ! 
Alchymists convert stones into gold ; but architects change gold into 
stone. Wo to the kings (as well as subjects) who trust their purse to 
these two classes of empirics ! 

5 



50 THE RUINS 

eternal poverty, resti-ained their labor to simple necessaries, and all 
productive activity vanished. 

The surcharge of taxes rendering lands a burdensome possession, 
the poor proprietor abandoned his field, or sold it to tlie powerful ; 
and fortune became concentrated in a few hands. All the laws and 
institutions favoring this accumulation, the nation became divided 
into a group of indolent rich, and a multitude of mercenary poor. 
The people were degraded with indigence, the great depraved with 
satiety, and the numbev of those interested in the preservation of the 
State decreasing, its strengxh and existence became proportionably 
precarious. 

On the other hand, emulation finding no object, science no encour- 
agement, the mind sunk into profound ignorance. 

The administration being secret and mysterious, there existed no 
means of reform or amelioration ; the chiefs governing by force or 
fraud, the people viewed them as a faction of public enemies, and all 
haiinony ceased between the governors and governed. 

All these vices having enervated the States of opulent Asia, tlie 
vagrant and indigent inhabitants of the adjacent deserts and moun- 
tains coveted the enjoyments of the fertile plains ; and, urged by a 
cupidity common to all, attacked the polished empires, and overturn- 
ed the thrones of their despots ; and these revolutions were rapid and 
easy, because the policy of tyrants had enervated the subjects, razed 
the fortresses, destroyed the warriors; and because the oppressed sub- 
jects remained without personal interest, and the mercenary soldiers 
without courage. 

And hordes of barbarians having reduced entire nations to slavery, 
the empires formed of conquerors and conquered, united in their bo- 
som two classes essentially opposite and hostile. All the principles 
of society were dissolved ; there \vas no longer any common interest, 
any public spirit ; and there arose a distinction of casts and races, 
which reduced into a regular system the maintenance of disorder ; 
and according as a man was born of this or that blood, he was bom 
a slave or a tyrant, property or proprietor. 

The oppressors being less numerous than the oppressed, it was ne- ' 
cessary to perfect the science of oppression, in order to support this 
false equilibrium. The art of governing became the art of subjecting 
the many to the few. To enforce an obedience so contrary to instinct, 
the severest punishments were established ; and tlie cruelty of the 
laws rendered manners atrocious. The distinction of persons estab- 



THE RUINS. 51 

ishing in the State two codes, two orders of justice, tAVO seta of laws ; 
the people, placed between the propensities of the heart, and tlieoath 
uttered from tlie mouth, had two consciences in contradiction with 
eacb otlier ; and die ideas of justice and injustice had no longer any 
foundation in the understanding. 

Under such a system, the people fell into dejection and despair. 
. And the accidents of nature being added to the other evils whicn as- 
sailed tliem, in the despondency caused by so many calamities, they 
atti-ibuted their causes to superior and hidden powers ; and because 
tliey saw tyrants on eartli, they fancied others in heaven ; and super- 
stition aggravated the misfortunes of rtations. 

Hence originated fatal doctrines, gloomy and misanthropic systems 
of religion, which painted the gods malignant and envious, like their 
despots. Man, to appease tliem, offered up die sacrifice of all his 
enjoyments : he environed himself in privations, and reversed die 
laws of nature. Conceiving his pleasures to be crimes, his sufferings 
expiations, he endeavoured to love pain, and to abjure the love of 
self; he persecuted his senses, hated his life ; and a self-denying and 
anti-social morality plunged nations into the apathy of death. 

But provident nature having endowed the heart of man with inex- 
haustible hope, when he found his desires of happiness all baffled on 
diis eardi, he pursued it into another world : by a sweet illusion he 
created for himself another countiy, an asylum where, far from ty- 
rants, he should recover the rights of his nature ; and thence resulted 
new disorders : smitten with an imaginary world, man despised that 
of nature : for chimerical hopes, he neglected the reality. His life 
began to appear a toilsome journey, a painful dream ; his body a 
prison, the obstacle to his felicity ] and the earth, a place of exile and 
of pilgrimage, not worthy of culture. Then a holy indolence spread 
over the political world ; the fields were deserted, empires depopula- 
ted, monuments neglected and deserts multiplied ; ignorance, super- 
stition and fanaticism combining their operations, overwhelmed the 
earth with devastation and ruin. 

Thus agitated by their own passions, men, whether collectively or 
individually taken, always greedy and improvident, passing from sla- 
vei7 to tyranny, from pride to servility, from presumption to despon- 
dency, have made themselves the perpetual instruments of their own 
misfortunes. 

These then are the principles, simple and natural, which regulated 
the destiny of ancient States j by this regular and connected series of 



62 THE RUINS. 

causes and efl'ects, they rose or fell, in proportion as the physical 
laws of the human heart were respected or violated ; and in the 
course of their successive changes, a hundred different nations, a hun- 
dred empires, by turns humbled, elevated, conquered, overthrown, 
have repeated for the earth their instructive lessons. — Yet these les- 
sons were lost for the generations which have followed ! The disor- 
ders of times past have reappeared in the present age ! The chiefs 
of the nations have continued to walk in the paths of falsehopd and 
tyranny ! the people to wander in the darkness of superstition and 
ignorance ! 

Since then, continued the Genius, with new collected energy, since 
the experience of past ages is lost for the living, smce the errors of 
progenitors have not instructed tlieir descendants, tlie ancient exam- 
ples are about to reappear | the earth will see renewed the tremen- 
dous scenes it has forgotten. New revolutions will agitate nations 
and empires ; powerful thrones will be again overturned, and terrible 
catastrophes will teach mankind that the laws of nature "and the pre- 
cepts of wisdom and truth can nej'er be infringed witJi impunity. 



CHAPTER XII. 

LESSONS OP TIMES PAST REPEATED ON THE PRESENT 

Thus spoke tlie Genius : struck witli the justice and coherence of 
his discourse, assailed witli a crowd of ideas, repugnant to my hab- 
its, yet convincing to my reason, I remaiiied absorbed in profound 
silence. — At length, while with serious and pensive mien, I kept jny 
eyes fixed on Asia, suddenly in tlie north, on tlie shores of the Black 
sea and in tlie fields of tlie Krimea clouds of smoke and Mme attrac- 
ted my attention : they appeared to rise at the same time from all 
parts of the peninsula ; and passing by the isthmus into the continent, 
tliey ran, as if driven by a westerly wind, along the muddy lake of 
Azof, and disappeared in the grassy plains of Kouban ; and follow- 
ing more attentively the course of these clouds, I observed that they 
were preceded or followed by swarms of moving creatures, which. 



THE RUINS. 53 

like ants or grasshoppers disturbed by tlie foot of a passenger, agita- 
ted themselves with vivacity : sometimes these swarms appeared to 
advance and rush against each other ; and numbers, after the con- 
cussion, remained motionless. — While disquieted at tliis spectacle, I 
strained my sight to distinguish the objects : — Do you see, said the 
Genius, those flames which spread over tlie eartli, and do you com- 
prehend tlieir causes and effects 1 — O Genius, I answered, I see 
those columns of flame and smoke, and something like insects ac- 
companying them j but Avhen I can scarcely discern the great masses 
of cities and monuments, how should I discover such little creatures 1 
only it should seem that these insects mimic battles, for they advance, 
retreat, attack and pursue. — It is no mockery, said the Genius, 
tliese are real battles. — And what mad animalcules, said I, are those 
which destroy each other 1 beings of a day ! will they not perish soon 
enough 1 — Then the Genius, again touching my sight and hearing. 
Look, said he, and hear. — Immediately directing my sight towards 
the same objects : Ah ! wretches, cried I, oppressed with grief, these 
colimms of flame ! these insects ! O Genius, they are men, these are 
tlie ravages of war ! — These torrents of flame rise from towns and 
villages ! I see tlie squadi'ons who kindle them, and who sword in 
hand overiun the country; they drive before them crowds of old men, 
women, and children, fugitive and desolate : I perceive odier horse- 
men, Avho with shouldered lances, accompany and guide tliem. I 
even recognise them to be Tartars by their led horses, their kalpaks, 
and tufts of hair : and doubtless tiiey who pursue, in triangular hats 
and green uniforms, are Muscovites — Ah ! I now compreliend, a war 
is kindled between the empire ot the tsars and that of the sultans. 
" Not yet," replied the Genius : " this is only a preliminary. These 
Tartars have been, and might still be troublesome neighbours. The 
Muscovites ai-e driving them off, finding their country would be a 
convenient extension of tlieir own limits ; and as a prelude to another 
revolution; the throne of the Guerais is destroyed." 

And in fact, I saw the Russian standards floating over the Krimea : 
and soon after their flag waving on the Euxine. 

Meanwhile, at tlie cry of tlie flying Tartars, the mussulman empire 
was in commotion. " They are driving off oiu- bretliren," cried the 
children of Mahomet: " tlie people of tlie prophet are outraged ! infi- 
dels occupy a consecrated land, and profane the temples of Islaraism. 
Let us arm ; let us rush to combat, to avenge the gbry of God and 
om- own cause." v 

6* 



54 THE RUINS. 

And a general movement of war took place in both empires 
Armed men, provisions, stores, and all tlie murderous apparatus of 
battle were ever}'where assembled ; and the temples of botli nations, 
besieged by an immense multitude, presented a spectacle which fixed 
all my attention. On one side, the Mussulmen assembled before 
their mosques, washed their hands and feet, pared their nails, and 
combed their beards : tlien spreading carpets upon the ground, and 
turning towards the south, Avith their arms sometimes crossed and 
sometimes extended, they made genuflexions and prostrations, and 
recollecting the disasters of the late war, they exclaimed : " God of 
mercy and clemency ! hast thou then abandoned thy faithful people 1 
Thou who hast promised to thy Prophet the empire over nations, and 
stamped his religion by so many triumphs, dost thou deliver thy true 
believers £o the swords of infidels'? " And the Imams and the Santons 
said to the people : " It is in chastisement of your sins. You eat 
pork, you drink wine ; you touch unclean things : God hath punished 
you. Do penance therefore, purify, repeat the p-ofession of fajtli :* 
fast from tlie rising to the setting sun, give the tenth of your goods to 
the mosques : go to Mecca : and God will render you victorious." 
And the people, recovering courage, uttered loud cries : There is but 
one God, said they transported with fury, and Mahomet is his proph- 
et : cursed be the man who believeth not ! 

" God of mercy, grant us to exterminate these Christians : it is 
for thy glory we fight, and our deatli.is a martyrdom for tliy name." — 
And then, offering victims, tliey prepared for battle. 

On tlie other side, the Russians, kneeling, said : " Render thanks to 
God, and celebrate his power; he hath strengthened our arm to humble 
his enemies. Hear our prayers, O merciful God: to please thee, we 
will pass three days without eating either meat or eggs. Grant us to 
exterminate these impious Mahometans, and to overturn their empire: 
to tliee we will consecrate the tenth of our spoils ; to thee we will 
raise new temples." And the priests filled the churches with a cloud 
of smoke, and said to the people : " We pray for you ; God accept- 
etli our incense, and blesseth our arms. Continue to fast and to fight ; 
confess to us your secret ciimes ; give your wealth to tlie Church : 
we will absolve you from your sins, and you shall die in a state of 
grace." And they sprinkled water upon the people, distributed 
among them, as amulets and charms, small relics of the dead j and the 
people breathed nothing but war and slaughter, 

'^ i'liere is but one God, and Mahomet is his propliet. 



THE RUINS. 55 

Sti-uck with this contrasting picture of the same passions, and 'a- 
menting their baneful consequences, I was considering how difficult 
it would be for the common judge to comply with such contradictory 
demands, when tlie Genius, inflamed with anger, indignantly ex- 
claimed : 

" What accents of madness strike my ear: Avhat blind and perverse 
delirium disorders the spirits of the nations'? Sacrilegious prayers, 
rise not from the earth ! and you#oh Heavens, reject their homicide 
vows and impious thanksgivings ! Deluded mortals ! is it tiius you 
revere the Divinity 1 Say, how should he, whom you call your com- 
mon father, receive the homage of his children murdering one another '? 
Ye victors ! widi what eye should he view your hands reeking in the 
blood he has created 1 And what do you expect, oh vanquished, from 
■unavailing groans *? Hath God the heart of a mortal, with passions 
ever changing 1 Is he, like you, agitated with vengeance or compas- 
sion, with wrath or repentance 1 What base conception of the most 
subliiwe of beings ! According to them, it Avould seem that God, 
whimsical and capricious, is irritated or appeased as a man ; that he 
,oves and hates alternately : that he punishes or favors ; that, weak 
or wicked, he broods over his hatred ; that contradictory or perfidious 
ne lays snares to enti-ap; tliat he punishes the evils lie [wrmits : tliat 
he foresees but hinders not crimes ; that, like a corrupt judge, he is 
bribed by offerings; like an ignorant despot, he makes laws and re- 
vokes them ; that, like a savage tyrant, he grants or lesumes favors 

witliout reason, and can only be appeased by servility Ah ! 

now I know the lying spirit of man ! Contemplating tiie picture he 
hath drawn of tlie Divinity, No, said I, it is not God who hatli made 
man, but man who hath made God after his own image ; he hath giv- 
en him his own mind, clothed him with his own propensities, ascrib- 
ed to him his own judgments And when in this medley he 

finds tlie contradiction of his own principles, affecting hypocritical hu- 
mility, he imputes weakness to his reason, and names tlie absurdities 
of his own mind mysteries of God. 

" He hath said : God is immutable, yet he offers prayers to change 
him. He hatli pronounced him incomprehensible, yet he is never 
without interpreters. 

" Impostors have arisen on the earth who have called themselves 
the confidants of God, and who, erecting themselves into teachers of 
the people, have opened the ways of falsehood and iniquity : they 
have ascribed merit to practices indifferent or ridiculous ; they have 



56 THE RUINS. 

supposed a virtue in certain postures, in pronouncing certain words, 
articulating certain names : tliey have transformed into a crime tlie 
eating of certain meats, the drinking of certain liquors, on one day 
ratlier than on anotlier. The Jew would rather die than labor on 
the sabbath : the Persian would endure suffocation, before he would 
blow the fire with his breatli; the Indian places supreme perfection 
in besmearing himself with cow d':ng, and pronouncing mysteriously 
Aum ;* the Mussulman believes he has expiated everything in wash- 
ing his head and arms ; and disputes, sword in hand, whether the ab- 
lution should commence at the elbow or finger ends ;t the Christian 
would think himself damned, were he to eat flesh instead of milk or 
butter. Oh sublime doctrines I Doctrines truly from heaven I Oh 
perfect morals, and worthy of martyrdom or the apostolate ! I will 
cross the seas to teach these admirable laws to the savage people, to 
distant nations ; I will say unto them. Children of natm'e, how long 
will you walk in the paths of ignorance 1 how long will you mistake 
the true principles of morality and religion *? Come and learn its les- 
sons from nations truly pious and learned, in civilized counti'ies : they 
will inform you, how, to gratify God, you must in certain months of 
tlie year, languish the whole day with hunger and thirst; how you 
may shed your neighbour's blood, and purify yourself from it by pro- 
fessions of faith and methodical ablutions ; how you may steal his 
property and be absolved on sharing it with certain persons, who de- 
vote themselves to its consmnption. 

" Sovereign and invisible power of the Universe ? mysterious 
mover of nature ! universal soul of beings ! thou who art unknown, 
yet revered by mortals under so many names ; being incomprehensi- 
ble and infinite; God, who in the immensity of the heavens, directest 
tlie movement of worlds, and peoplest the abyss of space with millions 
of suns ; say, what do these human insects which my sight no longer 

*" Pronouncing mysteriously Aum."— This word, in signification, 
and nearly in sound, resembles the Aeuum (levum) of the Latins, eter- 
nity, unbounded time. Accordjng to the Indians, this word is the em- 
blem of the tripartite divinity ; A denotes Bramah (the time past that 
created) U Vichenou ( the time present that preserves,) M, Chiven (the 
time future that shall destroy.) 

t " Should commence at the elbow."— This is one of the grand points 
of schism between the partisans of Omar and those of Ali. (Suppose two 
Maiioinetans to meet on a journey and to accost each other with brother- 
ly affection ; the hour of prayer arrives, one begins his ablution at his 
fingers, the other at the elbow ; and instantly they are mortal enemies 
In other countries, if a man eats meat on one day rather than on another, 
a cry of indignation will be raised against him. By what name are we 
to call such follies I 



THE RUINS. 57 

discerns on the earth, appear in thy eye 1 To thee who art guiding 
stars in their orbits, what are those wormlings writhing themselves 
in tiie dust"? Of what import to thy immensity, Uieir distinctions 
of parties and sects 1 And, of what concern the subtleties with which 
their folly torments itself? 

" And you, credulous men, show me tlie effect of your practices ! 
In so many centuries, during which you have been following or alter- 
ing them, what changes have your prescriptions wrought in the laws 
of nature 1 Is the sun brighter *? is the course of the seasons varied'? 
Is the earth mere fruitful or its inhabitants more happy 1 If God is 
good, can your penances please him 1 If infinite, can your homage 
add to his glory 1 If his decrees have been formed on foresight of 
every circumstance, can your prayers change them 1 Answer, in- 
consistent men ! 

*' Ye conquerors of the earth, who pretend you serve God, doth 
he need your aid *? If he wishes to punish, hath he not earth-quakes, 
volcanoes, and thunder at command'? and cannot a merciful God 
correct witliout extermination *? 

" Ye Mussulmen, if God chastiseth you for violating the five pre- 
cepts, how hath he raised up the Franks who ridicule them 1 If he 
governeth the earth by the Corftn, on what principles did he judge 
before the days of the prophet, so many nations who drank wine, eat 
pork, went not to Mecca, and whom he nevertheless permitted to raise 
powerful empires 1 How did he judge the Sabeans of Nineveh and 
of Babylon; the Persian, worshipper of fire; the Greek and Roman 
idolaters; the ancient kingdoms of the Nile, and your own ancestors 
the Arabians and Tartars '? How doth he yet judge so many nations 
who deny, or know not your worship 1 Tlie numerous casts of In- 
dians, the vast empire of the Chinese, tlie sable race of Africa, the 
islanders of the Ocean, the tribes of America '? 

" Presumptuous and ignorant men, who arrogate the earth to 
yourselves ! if God were to unite togethei; all the generations past 
and present, what would be, in their Ocean, the sects, calling them- 
selves universal, of Christians and Mussulmen 1 What would be 
the judgments of his equal and common justice over the real univer- 
sality of mankind 1 Therein it is that your knowledge loseth itself 
in incoherent systems ; it is there that truth shines with evidence; 
and there are manifested the powerful and simple laws of nattn-e and 
reason : laws of a common and general mover ; of an impartial and 
just God, who sheds rain on a country, without asking who is its 



58 THE RUINS. 

prophet ; who causetli his sun to shine alike on all the races of men, 
on the white as or tlie black, on tlie Jew, the Mussulman, the Chris- 
tian and the Idolater ; who reareth the harvest wherever cultivated 
with care ; who prospereth every empire where justice is practised, 
where the powerful man is restrained, and tlie poor protected by the 
laws ; where the weak live in safety, and every one enjoys tlie rights 
given him by nature and a compact formed in justice. 

" These are the principles by which people are judged ! this is 
tlie true religion which regulates the destiny of empires, and which, 
O Ottomans, has governed yours ! Interrogate your ancestors, ask 
of them by what means they rose to greatness, when few, poor, and 
idolaters, they came from the deserts of Tartary and encamped in 
these fertile countries ; ask if it was by Islamism, till then unknown 
to them, that they conquered the Greeks and the Arabs ; or, by 
their courage, their prudence, moderation, spirit of union, the true 
powers of tlie social state. Then the Sultan himself dispensed jus- 
tice, and maintained discipline ; the prevaricating judge, the extor- 
tionate governor were punished, and the multitude lived at ease ] the 
cultivator was protected from the rapine of the janissary, and the 
fields prospered ; tlie high roads were safe, and commerce produced 
abundance. You were a band of plunderers, but just among your- 
selves ; you subdued nations, but did not oppress tliem. Harassed 
by their own princes, they preferred being your tributaries. What 
matters it, said the Christian, whether my master breaks or adores 
images, if he renders justice to me 1 God will judge his doctrine in 
heaven. 

" You were sober and hardy ; your enemies timid and effeminate ; 
you w^ere expert in battle, your enemies unskilful ; your leaders ex- 
perienced, your soldiers wai'like, and obedient ; booty excited ardor, 
bravery was rewarded ; cowardice and indiscipline punished ; and 
all the springs of the human heai't were in action : thus you van- 
quished a hundred nations, and of a mass of conquered kingdoms 
compounded an immense empire. 

" But other manners have succeeded ; and in the reverses attend- 
ing them, the laws of natm'e have still exerted their force. After 
devouring your enemies, your cupidity, always insatiable, has reacted 
on itself, and, concentrated in your own bowels, has consumed you. 
Having become rich, you have quarrelled for partition and enjoy- 
ment ; and diiiorder arose in every class of society. The Sultan, in- 
toxicated with grandeur, has mistaken the object of his functions ; 



THE RUINS. 59 

and all the vices of arbitrary power have been developed. Meeting 
no obstacle to his appetites, he has become a depraved being ; weak 
and arrogant, he has kept tlie people aloof, and the voice of the peo- 
ple has no longer instructed and guided him. Ignorant, yet flattered, 
neglecting all instruction, all study, he has fallen into imbecility ; 
unfit for business, he has thrown its burden on hirelings, and these 
have deceived him. To gratify their own passions, they have stim- 
ulated and nourished his ; they have multiplied his wants ; and his 
enormous luxury has consumed everything ; the fiugal table, plain 
cloathing, and simple dwelling of his ancestors no longer sufficed ; to 
supply his pomp, earth and sea were exhausted ; the rarest furs 
were brought from the poles ; the most costly tissues from the equa- 
tor ; he has devoured at a meal the tribute of a city, and expended 
in a day the revenue of a province. He is surrounded with an army 
of women, eunuchs, and satellites. They tell him that liberality 
and munificence are the virtues of kings, and the treasures of the 
people have been delivered into the hands of flatterers ; in imitation 
of their master, his servants also must have splendid houses, tlie most 
exquisite furniture, carpets embroidered at great cost, vases of gold 
and silver for the vilest purposes, and all the riches of the empire 
have been swallowed up in the Serai. , 

" To supply this inordinate luxui*y, the slaves and women have 
sold their mfluence, and venality has introduced a general deprava- 
tion; the favor of the sovereign has been sold to the vizier, and the 
vizier has sold the empire. The law has been sold to the cadi, and 
the cadi has made sale of justice. The altar has been sold to the 
priest, and the priest has sold the kingdom of heaven ; and gold ob- 
taining everything, they sacrificed everything to obtain gold ; for 
gold, the friend betrayed his friend ; the child, his parent ; the ser- 
vant, his. master ; the wife, her honor ; the merchant, his conscience ; 
and good faith, morals, concord and strength were banished from 
the State. 

" The Pacha, who purchased the government of his province, con- 
sidered it as his farm, and practised in it every species of extortion. 
He sold in turn the collection of the taxes, the command of the . 
troops, the administration of the villages, and as every employ has 
been transient, rapine spread from rank to rank, has been greedy 
and precipitate. The revenue oflicer has fleeced the mei'chant, and 
commerce was annihilated ; the aga has plundered the husbandman, 
and ailture declined. The laborer, deprived of his stock, has been 



60 TPIE RUINS. 

unable to sow ; .when tlie tax-gatherei- came he was unable to pay ; 
threatened with the bastonado lie Mas forced to borrow ; money, 
from want of security, being locked up from circulation, bore an 
enormous interest, and the usury of the rich has aggravated the mis- 
ery of the laborer. 

" When excessive droughts and accidents of seasons iiave blasted 
the harvest, the government atlmitted no delay, no indulgence for 
the tax : and distress bearing hard on the village, a part of its inhab- 
itants have taken refuge in the cities ; and their burdens falling on 
those who remained, has completed their ruiti, and depopulated the 
country. 

" If driven to extremity by tyranny and outrage, the villages have 
revolted, the Pacha rejoices : he wages war on them, assails their 
houses, pillages tlieir property, carries offtlieir stock; and when the 
fields have become a desert. What care I, says he, I go away to- 
morrow. 

" The earth wanting laborers, the rains of heaven and overflowings 
of torrents have stagnated in marshes, and their puti-id exhalations, 
in a warm climate, have caused epidemics, plagues, and diseases of 
all sorts ; from whence have flowed additional depopulation, penury 
and ruin. 

" Oh, who can enumerate all the calamities of tyrannical govern- 
ment ! 

" Sometimes the Pachas make war on each other, and for their 
personal quarrels, the provinces of tlie same State are laid waste. 
Sometimes, fearing their masters, they attempt independence, and 
draw on their subjects the chastisement of tlieir revolt. Some- 
times, dreading their subjects, they call in and subsidize strangers, 
and to ensure their fidelity, set no bounds to their depredations. 
Here they persecute the rich and despoil them under false pretences : 
there they suborn false witnesses, and impose penalties for suppositi- 
tious offences : everywhere they excite the hatred of parties, encour- 
age informations to obtain amercements, extort property, seize 
persons : and when their shortsighted avarice has accumulated into 
one mass all the riches of a country, the government, under pretence 
of avenging the oppressed people, takes to itself by an execrable per- 
fidy all their spoils with those of the culprit, and sheds useless blood 
for a crime of which it is the accomplice. 

" Oh wretches, monarchs or ministers, who sport with the lives 
and forrntjf^s of tlw people ! Is it you who gave breatli to man. 



THE RUINS. . 61 

tliat you dare take it from him '? do you give gi'owth to the plants of 
(he earth, tliat you may waste them 1 do you toil to furrow ihe field '? 
do you endure the ardor of the sun, and the torments of thirst, to 
reap the harvest or thresh the sheaf? do you watch like the shepherd, 
in the nocturnal dew! do you traverse deserts like the merchant'? 
Ah ! on beholding the pride and cruelty of the powerful, I was tran- 
sported witlj indignation, and have said in my wrath : Will there 
never arise on the earth men who will avenge the people and punish 
tyrants ! a handful of brigands devour the multitude, and the multi- 
tude submits to be devoured ! Oh! degenerate people, know you not 
your rights ! All autliority is from you, all power is yours. In vain 
kings command you on the authority of God and of their lance ; sol- 
diers be still : if God supports the sultan, he needs not your aid ; if 
his sword suffices, he wants not yours : let us see what he can do 
alone. — The soldiers grounded their arms ; and behold these masters 
of die world feeble as the meanest uf their subjects ! People ! know 
tliat those who govern are your chiefs, not yom* masters ; your agents, 
not your owners; that they have no authority over you, but by you, 
and for you ; that your wealth is yours, and they accountable for it ; 
that, kings or subjects, God has made all men equal ; and no mor- 
tal has a right to oppress his fellow creature. 

" But this nation and its chiefs have mistaken these holy truths. — 
They must abide then the consequences of their blindness. — The de- 
cree is past ; the. day approaches when this colossus of power shall 
be crushed and crumbled under its- own mass : yes, I swear by the 
ruins of so many empires destroyed ! the empire of the crescent shall 
share the fate of the despotism it imitated. A nation of strangers 
shall drive the sultan from his metropolis; the throne of Orkhan shall 
be overturned, the last shoot of his trunk shall be broken oft'; and 
the horde of Oguzians,* deprived .of their chief, shall disperse like 
that of the Nogais ; in this dissolution, the people of the empire, 
loosened from the yoke which united them, shall resume their ancient 
distinctions, and a general anarchy shall follow as happened in the 
empire of tl>e Sophis, until there shall arise among tlie Arabians, 
Armenians, or Greeks, legislators who may compose new States. — • 
Oh ! if there were on earth men profound and bold ! what elements 
of grandeur and glory ! — But already the hour of /lestiny approaches. 

*" The hordeof Oguzians."— Before the Turks took the name of their 
cliief, Otliman 1st. they bore that of Oguzians ; and it was under this ap- 
pellation that they were driven out of Tartary by Gengiz, and came 
from the borders of the Gihouu to settle in Anadoli. 
6 



b'ii, THE RUINS. 

The cry of war strikes my ear, and the catastrophe begins. In vain 
the sultan leads forth his armies ; his ignorant warriors are beaten 
and dispersed : in vain he calls his subjects ; tlieir hearts are ice ; it 
is written, say they, what matters who is oiu- master 1 we cannot 
lose by the change. In vain the true believers invoke heaven and 
the prophet : the prophet is dead, and relentless heaven answers : 
•Cease to invoke me; you have caused your own misfortunes, cure 
them yourselves. Nature has established laws, your part is to obey 
them ; observe, reason, and profit by experience. It is the folly of 
man which ruins him, let his wisdom save him. The people are ig- 
norant, let them acquire instruction ; tlieir chiefs are wicked, let 
them correct and. amend, for such is nature's decree:' since the 
evils of society spring from cupidity and ignorance, men will never 
cease to be persecuted, till they become enlightened and wise ; till 
tliey practise justice, founded on a knowledge of their relations and 
of the laws of their organization." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

WILL THE HUMAN RACE IMPROVE? 

At these words, oppressed with the painful sentiment with which 
their severity overwhelmed me : " Wo to the nations !" cried I, burst- 
ing into tears, " wo to myself! Ah ! now it is that I despair of tha 
happiness of man. Since his miseries proceed from his heart, since 
he himself must apply the remedy, wo forever to his existence ! 
Who, indeed, will ever be able to restrain the lust of wealth in the 
strong and powerful ! Who can enlighten the ignorance of the weak 1 
Who can teach the multitude to know their rights, and force their- 
chiefs to perform their duties '? Thus, the race of man is always 
doomed to suffer ! Tims, the individual will not cease to oppress 
the individual, a nation to attack a nation, and days of prosperity, 
of gl">ry, for these regions, shall never return. Alas ! conquerors 
will come ; they will drive out the oppressors and fix themselves in 
tlieir place ; but, inheriting their power, they will inherit their ra- 
pacity ; and the eartli will have clianged tyrants, but not the tyranny." 



THE RUINS. 63 

Then turning to the Genius : " O Genius ! said I, despair has sunk 
into my soul : knowing tlie nature of man, the perversity of tliose who 
govern, and tlie debasement of the governed, have disgusted me with 
life ; and since tiiere is no choice but to be the accomplice or the 
victim of oppression, what remains to the man of virtue but to join 
his ashes to those of the tomb !" 

The Genius fixing on me a look of severity mixed with compassion, 
replied after a few moments silence : " Does virtue then consist in 
dying 1 The wicked man is indefatigable in consummating his crime, 
and the just is discouraged from ,doing good at the first obstacle he 
meets I — But such is the heart of man ; success intoxicates him with 
confidence, a reverse overturns and confounds him : always given up to 
the sensation of the moment, he never judges things by their nature, 
but by the impulse of passion. Mortal, who despairest of the human 
race, on what profound combinations of facts and of reasoning hast thou 
established tliy conclusion 1 Hast thou scrutinized the organization 
of sensible beings, to determine with precision whether the instinc- 
tive force which moves them on to happmess is essentially weaker 
than that which repels them from it "? or, embracing in one glance the 
histoiy of the species, and judging the future by the past, hast thou 
shown that all improvement is impossible 1 Say ! has human socie- 
ty, since its origin, made no progress towards knowledge and a bet- 
ter state 1 Are men still in their forests, destitute of everything, 
ignorant, stupid, and ferocious 1 Are all the nations still in that age 
when notliing was seen upon the globe, but brutal robbers and bru- 
tal slaves 1 If at any time, in any place, individuals have ameliorat- 
ed, why shall not the whole mass ameliorate 1 If partial societies 
have improved, what shall hinder the improvement of society in 
general 1 And if the first obstacles are overcome, why should the 
others be insurmountable 1 

" Are you of opinion that the human race is degenerating 1 Guard ^ ^ " 
against the illusion and the paradoxes of the misanthrope: man \, jm 
dissatisfied with the present, ascribes to the past a perfection which 1^ M 
never existed, and which only serves to cover his chagrin. He g '^f 
praises the dead out of hatred to the living:, and beats the children > -.«^ 
with the bones of their fathers. ' 

" To prove this pretended retrograde progress from perfection, we 
must contradict the testimony of reason and of fact ; and if the facts 
of history are in any measure uncertain, Ave must contradict the liv- 
ing fact of man's organization ; we must prove that he is born with 



64 THE RUINS. 

tlie enlightened use of his senses ; that without experience he can 
distinguish aliment from poison ; that the child is wiser than the old 
man; that the blind walks with more safety than the clearsighted; 
that tlie civilized man is more miserable than the cannibal ; in a word, 
that there is no ascending scale in experience and instruction. 

" Young man, believe the voice of tombs, and the testimony of 
monuments : some countries have doubtless fallen from what they 
were at certam epochs ; but if we weigh the wisdom and happiness 
of their inhabitants, even in those times, Ave shall find more of splen- 
dor than of reality in their glory ; we shall find, in the most celebrated 
of ancient States, enormous vices and cniel abuses, the true causes 
of their decay; we shall find in general that the principles of govern- 
ment were atrocious ; that insolent robberies, barbarous wars, and 
implacable hatreds were raging from nation to nation ;* that natural 
right was unknown ; that morality was perverted by senseless fanati- 
cism and deplorable superstition ; that a dream, a vision, an oracle 
were constantly tlie causes of vast commotions : perhaps the nations 
are not yet entirely cured of all these evils ; but their intensity at least 
is diminished, and the experience of the past has not been wholly lost. 
For the last three centuries, especially, knowledge has increased and 
been extended; civilisation, favored by happy circumstanc^es, has 
made a considerable progress, inconveniences and abuses have even 
turned to its advantage : lor if States have teen too much extended 
by conquest, the people, by uniting under the same yoke, have lost 
the spirit of estrangement and division which made them all enemies 
one to the other : if the powers of government have been more con- 
centrated, there has been more system and harmony in their exercise : 
if wars have become more extensive in the mass, tliey are less bloody 
in the detail : if men have gone to batile with less personality, less 
energy, their struggles have been less sanguinary and less ferocioUs, 
they have been less free, but less turbulent, more effeminate but more 
pacific. Despotism itself has rendered tliem some service ; for if 
governments have been more absolute, they have been more quiet and 
less tempestuous ; if thrones have become a property and hereditary, 
they have excited less dissensions, and the people have suffered fewer 
convulsions ; finally, if the despots, jealous and mysterious, have in- 
terdicted all knowledge of their administration, all concurrence in 

* " Implacable hatreds were raging from nation to nation." — Read the 
history of the wars of Roma and Carthage, of Sparta and Messina, of 
Athens and Syracuse, of the Hebrews and the Phenicians ; yet these are 
the nations which antiquity celebrates as being most polished ! 



THE RUINS. 65 

the management of public affairs, the passions of men, drawa aside 
from politics, have attended to the arts, and the sciences of nature, 
and the sphere of ideas in every direction has been enlarged : man, 
devoted to abstract studies, has better understood his place in tlie 
system of nature, and his relations in society ; principles have been 
bettqr discussed, final causes better explained, knowledge more ex- 
tended, individuals better insti-ucted, manners more social, and life 
more happy ; tlie species at large, especially in certain countries, has 
gained considerably; and this amelioration cannot* but increase in 
future, because its two principal obstacles, those even which, till then, 
had rendered it so slow and sometimes retrograde, the difficulty ot 
transmitting ideas and of commimicating them rapidly, have been at 
last removed. 

" Indeed, among the ancients, each canton, each city, having a 
peculiar language, the consequence was favorable to ignorance and 
anarchy. There was no communication of ideas, no participation 
of discoveries, no harmony of interests or of wills, no unity of action 
or design : besides the only means of transmitting and of propagating 
ideas being tliat of speech, fugitive and limited, and that of writing, 
tedious of execution, expensive and ccarce, the consequence was a 
hinderance of present instmction, loss of experience from one gener- 
ation to another, instability, retrogradation of knowledge and a per- 
petuity of confusion and childliood. 

" But in the modern \torld, especially in Europe, gi-eat nations 
having allied themselves in language, and established vast communi- 
ties of opinions ; the minds of men are assimilated, and their affec- 
tions expanded ; there is a sympathy of opinion and an unity of ac- 
tion : then that gift of heavenly genius, the holy art of Printing, 
having furnished the means of communicating in an instant the same 
idea to millions of men, and of fixing it in a durable manner, beyond 
the power of tyrants to arrest or annihilate, there arose a mass of 
progressive instruction, an expanding atmosphere of science, which 
assures to future ages a solid amelioration. This amelioration is a 
necessary effect of the laws of nature ; for by the law of sensibility, 
man as invincibly tends to render himself happy as the flame to mount, 
the stone to descend, or the water to find its level. His obstacle is 
his ignorance, which misleads him in the means, and deceives him 
m causes and effects. He will enlighten himself by experience, go 
right by dint of errors, grow wise and good because it is his interest 
to be 60 ; and in a nation, ideas being communicated, whole classes 



66 - THE RUINS. 

will gain instruction j science will become a i algar possession, and 
all men will know what are the principles of individual happiness 
and of public prosperity; they will know the relations they bear to 
society, iheir duties and their rights; they will learn to guard against 
the illusions of the lust of gain ; they will perceive that morality is 
a physical science, composed indeed of elements complicated in their 
operation, but simple and iHvariable m their nature, since they are 
only the elements of the organization of man. They wiH see the 
propriety of being moderate and just, because in that is found the 
advantage and security of each ; they will perceive that the wish to 
enjoy at the expense of another is a false calculation of ignorance, 
because it gives rise to reprisal, hatred and vengeance, and that dis- 
honesty is tlie never Tail in" offspring of folly. 

" Individuals will feel that private' happiness is alliesd to public 
good ; 

" The weaJi, that instead of dividing their :nterests, they ought to 
unite them, because equality constitutes their force. 

" The rich, that the measure of enjoyment is bounded by the con- 
stitution of the organs, and that lassitude follows satiety ; 

" The poor, that the empiloyment of time, and tlie peace of the 
heart, compose the highest happiness of man. 

" And pubtic opinion, reaching kings on their thrones, will force 
them to confine themselves within tlie limits of regular autliority. 

" Even chance itself, serving the cause of nations, will sometimes 
give them feeble cliiefs, who, from weakness, will suffer them to be- 
come free ; and sometimes enlightened chiefs, Avho from a principle 
of virtue will free them. 

" And when nations, free and enlightened, shall become like great 
individuals, the whole species will have the same facilities as partic- 
ular portions have now : the communication of knowledge will extend 
from one to another, and reach the whole. By the law of imitation, 
the example of one people will be followed by others, who will adopt 
its spirit and its laws. Even despots, perceiving that they can no 
longer maintain their authority without justice and beneficence, will 
soften their sway from necessity, from rivalship; and civilisation will 
become universal. 

" There will be established among the several nations an equilib- 
riun offeree, which, restraining them all within the bounds of a just 
respect for their reciprocal rights, shall put an end to the barbarous 
practice of war, and submit their disputes to* civil arbitration; die 



THE RUINS. 67 

human race will become one great soci9ty, one individual family, gov- 
erned by the same spirit, by comjpon laws, and enjoying all the hap- 
piness of wjiich their natiu-e is susceptible. 

" Doubtless this great work will be long accomplishing, because the 
same movement ihust be given to an immense body ; the same leaven 
must assimilate an enormous mass of heterogeneous parts ; but this 
movement shall be effected,' its presages are already to be seen. 
Already the great societVj assuming in its course the same characters 
as partial societies have done, is evidently tending to a like result. 
At first disconnected in all its parts, it saw its members for a long 
time without coliesion ; and this general solitude of nations formed 
its first age of anarchy and childhood ; divided afterwards by chance 
into irregular sections, called states and kingdoms, it has experienced 
the fatal effects of an extreme inequality of Avealth and rank ; and the 
arist(x;racy of great empires has formed its second age ; then, these 
lordly states disputing for preenjinence, have exhibited the period of 
tlie shock of factions. At present the contending parties, wearied 
with their discord, feel the want of laws, and sigh for the age of or- 
der and peace. Let but a virtuous chief appear ! a just, a powerful 
people arise ! and the earth will raise them to supreme power ; the 
world is waiting for a legislative people ; it wishes and demands it ; 
and my heart hears its voice. — Then turning towards the West; 
Yes, continued he, a hollow sound already strikes my ear : a cry of 
liberty, proceeding from far distant shores, resounds on the ancient 
continent. At this cry, a secret murmm* against oppression is raised 
in a powerful nation ; a salutary inquietude alarms her respecting her 
situation, she Inquires what she is, and what she ought to be, while, 
surprised at iier own weakness, she interrogates her rights, her re- 
sources, and what has been the conduct of her chiefs. Yet another 
day, a little more reflection — and an immense agitation will begin; 
a new born age will open I an age of astonishment to vulgar minds, 
of surprise and terror to tyrants, of emancipation to a great nation,, 
and of hop6 to the human race." 



68 THE RUINS. 

chapt:^ XIV. 

THE GREAT OBSTACLE TO IMPROVEMENT 

The Genius ceased. — But preoccupied with melancholy thoughts, 
my mind resisted persuasion ; fearing howf^ver to shock him by my 
resistance, I remained silent. — After awhile, turning to me with a 
look which pierced my soul — You are silent, said he, and your heart 
is agitated with thoughts which it dares not utter !^ — Confused and 
terrified; "O Genius!" I made answer, "pardon my weakness : 
doubtless your mouth can utter nothing but truth ; but yout celestial 
intelligence can seize its rays, where my grosser faculties discern 
notljing but clouds. I confess it : conviction has not penetrated my 
soul, and I feared that my doubts might offend you." 

"And Avhat is doubt," replied he, " that it should be a crime 1 can 
man feel otherwise than as he is affected 1 If a tinith be palpable and 
of importance in practice, let us pity him who misconceives it : his 
blindness will bring on its own punishment. If it be uncertain or 
equivocal, how is he to find in it what it has not 1 To believe with- 
out evidence or proof, is an act of ignorance and folly : the credulous 
man loses himself in a labyrinth of contradictions : the man of sense 
examines and discusses, that he may be consistent in his opinions j 
the honest man will beav contradiction, because it gives rise to evi- 
dence. Violence is the argument of falsehood ; apd to impose a creed 
by authority is the act and indication of a tyrant." 

Encouraged by these words, "O Genius!" said I, *'smce my reason 
is free, I strive in vain to entertain the flattering hope with- which 
you endeavour to console me : the sensible and virtuous soul is easily 
caught with dreams of happiness ; but a cixel reality constantly awa- 
kens it to suffering and wretchedness : the more I meditate on the 
nature of man, the more I examine the present state of sogieties, the 
less possible it appears to realize a world of wisdom and felicity. I 
cast my eye over the whole of our hemisphere; I perceive in no place 
the germ, nor do I foresee the instinctive energy of a happy revolu- 
tion. All Asia lies buried in profound darkness. The Chinese, de- 
graded by a bamboo-despotism,* blinded by astrological superstition, 

* " The Chinese degraded by a bamboo-despotism."— The Jesuits have 
endeavoured to represent under fjivorable colors the Chinese government; 
it is now known to be a pure oriental despotism. 



THE RUINS. 69 

resti-ained by an immutable code of gestmes, by the radical vices of 
an ill constructed language, and still more defective writing,* appear 
to be in their abortive civilisation, nothing but a people of automatons. 
The Indian, borne down by prejudices and enchained in the sacred 
fetters of his casts, vegetates in an incurable apathy. The Tartar, 
wandering or fixed, always ignorant and ferocious, lives in the savage- 
ness of his ancestors. The Arab, endowed with a happy genius, 
loses its force and the fruits of his virtue m the anarchy of his tribes 
and the jealousy of his families. The African, degraded from tlie 
rank of man, seems irrevocably doomed to servitude. In the north, 
I see nothing but vilified serfs, herds of men, with which the land- 
lords stock their estates. Ignorance, tyranny and wretchedness have 
everywhere stupified the nations ; and vicious habits, depraving the 
natural senses, have destroyed the very instinct of happiness and of 
truth : in some countries of Europe, indeed, reason has begun to dawn, 
but even there, do nations partake of the knowledge of individuals 1 
are the talents and genius of governors tiu-ned to the benefit of the 
people 1 And those nations which call themselves polished, are they 
not the same that for the last three centuries have filled the earth 
with their injustice ? Are they not those who, under the pretext of 
commerce, have desolated India, dispeopled a new continent, and 
subject Africa at present to the most barbarous slavery 1 Can liber- 
ty be bom from the bosom of despots'? and shall justice be rendered 
by the hands of piracy and extortion 1 O Genius ! I have seen the 
civilized countries, and the illusion of their Avisdom has vanished 
from my sight : I eavv riches accumulated in the hands of a few, and 
the multitude pooi" and destitute : I have seen all rights, all powers 
concentred in certain classes, and the mass of the people passive and 
dependent; I have seen families of princes, but no families of the na- 
tion ; I have seen government interests, but no public interests or 
spirit; I have seen that all the science of government was to oppress 
prudently ; and *he refined servitude of polished nations appeared to 
me only the more irremediable. 

" One obstacle above all has profoundly struck my mind. On 
surveying the globe, I have seen it divided into twenty different sys- 
tems of religion; every nation has received, or formed, opposite 

* " By the radical vices of an ill constructed language, and still more 
defective writing." — The Chinese people proves to us that in antiquity, 
until the discovery of alpliabetical writing, the human understanding 
found it very difficult to advance, as before Arabian ciphers it was very 
difficult to settle accounts. All depends on method : and China can on- 
ly be changed by an alteration in its language. 



70 THE RUINS. 

opinions ; and evei7 one ascribing to itself tlie exclusive possession 
of the truth, must believe the other to be wrong. Now if, as must 
be the fact in this discordance of opinion, the greater part are in an 
error, and are sincere in it, then it follows tliat our mind embraces 
falsehood as it does truth; and if so, how is it to be enlightened 1 
when prejudice has once seized the mind, how is it to be dissipated 1 
How shall we remove the bandage from our eyes, when the first ar- 
ticle in'every creed, the first dogma in all religion, is the absolute 
proscription of doubt, the interdiction of examination, and the re- 
jection of our own judgment 1 How is truth to make herself known'? 
if she resorts to arguments and proofs, the timid man stifles the voice 
of his own conscience ; if she invokes the authority of celestial pow- 
ers, the prepossessed man opposes it with another authority of the 
same origin, and calls all innovation blasphemy. Thus man in his 
blindness has rivetted his own chains, arid surrendered himself for- 
ever, without defence, to the sport of his ignorance and his passions. 
To dissolve such fatal chains, a miraculous concurrence of happy 
circumstances would be necessary; a whole nation, cured of the de- 
lirium of superstition, must be Inaccessible to the impulse of fanati- 
cism ; freed from the yoke of false doctrine, a whole people must 
impose upon itself that of true morality and reason ; this people 
should be courageous andprudent, wise and docile; each individual, 
knowing his rights, should not transgress them : tlie poor should 
know how to resist seduction, and tlte rich the allurements of ava- 
rice ; there should be found leaders disinterested and just ; and their 
tyrants should be seized with a spirit of madness and folly ; this peo- 
ple, recovering its rights, should feel its inability to exercise them In 
person, and should name Its representatives ; creator of its magis- 
trates, it should kuow at once to respect and to judge them ; in the 
sudden reform of a Vt'hole iiation, accustomed to live by abuses, each 
individual displaced should bear with patience his privations, and 
submit to a change of habits; tliis nation should have the corn-age to 
conquer its liberty, the power to defend it, tlie wisdom to establish 
it, and the generosity to extend it to others : and can we ever ex- 
pect the union of so many circumstances 1 But suppose that chance 
in its infinite combination's should produce tliem, shall I see tliose 
fortunate days I will not my ashes long ere then be cold in the 
tomb 1 " • 

Here, sunk In sorrow, my oppressed heart no longer found utter- 
ancr. — The Genius answered not, but I heard him say In a low 



THE RUINS. 71 

voice : " I must revive the hope of tliis man ; for if he who loves 
his fellow creatures be suffered to despair, what will become of na- 
tions 1 The past is perhaps too discoiu-aging ; I must anticipate 
futurity, and discbse to the eye of viitue the astonishing age tliat is 
ready to begin ; that, on viewing the object she desires, she may be 
animated with new ardor, and redouble her efforts to attain it." 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE NEW AGE. 

Scarcely had he finished tliese words, when a gi-eat noise arose 
in the west; and turning to tha^; quarter, I perceived at the extrem- 
ity of the Mediterranean, in one of the nations of Europe, a prodi 
gious movement ; such as when a violent sedition arises in a vast 
city, a numberless people i-ushing in all directions, pour through the 
streets and fluctuate like waves in the public places. My ear, struck 
with tlie cries which resounded to the heavens, distinguished these 
words : 

" What is this new prodigy 1 Avhat cniel and mysterious scouige 
is this ■? We are .i numerous people, and we want hands 1 we have 
an excellent soil, and we are in want of subsistence ! we are active, 
and laborious, and we live in indigence ! we pay enormous tributes, 
and we are told they are not sufficient ! we are at peace without, 
and oui" persons and property are not safe within ! Who then is the 
secret enemy that devours us 1 " 

Some voices from the midst of tlie multitude, replied : " Raise a 
discriminating standard, and let all those who maintain and nourish 
mankind by useful labors gatlier round it, and you will discover the 
the enemy that preys upon you." 

The standard being raised, this nation divided itSelf at once into 
two unequal bodies, of a contrasted appearance : one, innumerable, 
and almost total, exhibited in the general poverty of its clothing, in 
its emaciated appearance and sun burnt faces, tlie marks of misery 
and labor; the other, a little group, an imperceptible fi*action, pre- 



72 THE RUINS. 

sented in its rich attire bedaubed with gold and silver, and in its 
sleek and ruddy faces, the signs of leisure and abundance. 

Considering these men more attentively, I found that the great 
body was composed of farmersj artificers, merchants, all professions 
usefiil to society, and that the little group was made up of the minis- 
ters of worshij) of every order (monks and priests,) of financiers, no- 
bles nnd men in livery, of the commanders of troops and other hireling 
agents of government. 

These two bodies being assembled face to face, and regarding 
each other with astonishment, I saw indignation and rage arising in 
one side, and a sort of panic in the other ; and the larger said to the 
smaller body : 

" Why are you separated from us 1 are you not of our number 1 " 

" No," replied the group : "you are the people; we are a privileged 
class, who have our laws, customs, and rights, pecitliar to ourselves.'* 

PEOPLE. 

And what labor do you perform in our society 1 

PRIVILEGED CLASS. 

None, we are not made to work. 

PEOPLE. 

How then have you acquired these riches 1 

PRIVILEGED CLASS. 

By taking tlie pains to govern you. 



What ! we toil, and you enjoy ! we produce, and you dissipate ! 
wealth proceeds from us, you absorb it, and you call this governing ! 
— Privileged class, distinct body not belonging to us, form your na- 
tion apart, and we shall see how you will subsist. 

Then the smaller group deliberating on this new state of things, 
some just and generous men among them said : We must join the 
people, and bear our part of the burden, for they are men like us, 
and our riches come from them. But others arrogantly exclaimed : 
It would be a shame, an infamy for us to mingle with the crowd ; 
they are born to pervc us ; are we not the noble and pure descendants 



THE RUINS. 73 

of the conquerors of this empire 1 this mukitude must be reminded 
of our rights and its OAvn origin. 

THE NOBLJES. 

People I know you not that our ancestors conquered this land, 
and that your race was spared only on condition of serving us 1 This 
is our social compact ! this the government constituted by custom 
and prescribed by time. 

PEOPLE. 

O conquerors pure of blood ! ehovtr us your genealogies ! we shall 
then see if what in an individual is robbery and plunder, can be vu*- 
tuous in a nation. 

And forthwith, voices were heard in every quarter calling out the 
nobles by their names ; and relating their origin and parentage, they 
told how tlie grandfather, great grandfather or even father, bom tra- 
ders and mechanics, after acquiring wealth in every way, had pur- 
chased their nobility for money : so that but very few families were 
really of the original stock. See, said these voices, see these purse- 
proud conunoners who deny their parents, see these plebeian recruits 
who look on themselves as illustrious veterans ! and peals of laughter 
were heard. 

To stifle them, some astucious men cried out : Mild and faithful 
people, acknowledge die legitimate authority ;* the King wills, the 
law ordains. 

* " Acknowledge the legitimate authority."— To ascertain the signifi 
cation of the word legitimate, it should be considered that it comes from 
the latin legi-intimus, intrinsic in the law, written in it. If there- 
fore the law is made by the prince alone, the prince alone makes him- 
self legitimate : then he is merely a despot : his will is the law. This 
Is not what is meant ; for the same right would be transferred to the 
power that should overturn him. What is the law (the source of right ?) 
The Latin also informs us : from legere to read, lectio, is derived lex, res 
lecta, thing read ; this thing read is an order to do or not to do a partic- 
ular action, and this on condition of penalty or reward attached to the 
observance or infringement. This order is read to those concerned, that 
they might not plead ignorance. It was written that it might be read 
without any alteration : such is the signification, and such the origin of 
the word law. Hence the several epithets of which it is susceptible ; 
wise law, absurd law, just law, unjust law, according to the efffect re- 
sulting from it, aiu^ it is this effect which characterises the power from 
whence it proceeds. Now, in the social state, in the government of 
men, what is just and unjust? Justice consists in preserving or restoring 
to each individual what belongs to him : consequently, first, life which 



74 THE RUINS. 

PEOPLE. 

Privileged class, explain the word legitimate j if it means confor- 
mable ta intrinsic in the law, say who made the law 1 Can the law 
ordain anything else than the preservation of the multitude 1 

Then the military governors said : The multitude will only submit 
to force, we must chastise tliem. Soldiers, strike tliis rebellious 
people ! 

PEOPLE. 

Soldiers ! you are of our blood ! will you strike your brothers, 
your relations'? If the people perish, who will nourish the army 1 

And tlie soldiers, grounding tlieir arms, said : We are likewise 
Jie people, show us the enemy ! 

Then tlie ecclesiastical governors said : tliere is but one resource 
left : the people are superstitious j we must frighten them with the 
names of God and religion. 

Our dear brethren ! our children ! God has ordained us to govern 
yod. 

PEOPLE. 

Show us your powers from God 1 

PRIESTS. 

You must have faitli ; reason leads astray. 

PEOPLE. , 

Do you govern without reason 1 



he owes to a power above all ; 2, the use of the senses and faculties 
given him by that same power ; 3d. the enjoyment of the fruits of his 
labor -, and all this, as long as he injures not these same rights in others; 
for if he does injure them, there is injustice, that is to say, a breach of 
equality and equilibrium between man and man. But the greater the 
number of the injured, the more injustice is committed: consequently, 
if, as is the fact, what is called the people composes the immense ma- 
jority of a nation, it is the interest, the happiness of that majority which 
constitutes justice : this truth is well expressed by the axiom : salus po- 
puli suprema lex esto. The safety of the people, this is the law, this 
is legitimacy. And observe tha^ salus does not say the will, as some 
fanatics have imagined ; for first the people may be deceived ; then how 
a this collective and abstract will to be expressed f experience proves it 
Salus populi ! the art is to know and to accomplish it. 



THE RUINS- , 75 

i-rtlJESTS. 

God commands peace : religion prescrilies obedience 

PEOPLE. 

Peace supposes justice j obedience implies conviction of a duty 

PKIESTS. 

Suffering is tlie business of this world. 

PEOPLE. 

Show us the example. 

PRIESTS. 

Would you live without gods or kingfs 1 

PEOPLE. 

We would live without oopressors. 

PRIESTS. 

You must have mediators, intercessors. 

PEOPLE. 

Mediators with God, and with the king ! coiu-tiers and priests, 
your services are too expensive ; we will henceforth manage our own 
affairs. 

And then the little group said : All is lost, the multitude is 
enlightened. 

And the people answered : All is safe ; since we are enlightened 
we will commit no violence : we only claim our rights. We feel re- 
eentments ; but we forget tliem ; we were slaves, we might conmiand ; 
but we only wish to be free, and liberty is but justice. 



76 THE RUINS. 



CHAPTER XVf. 



A FREE AND LEGISLATIVE PEOPLE. 

Considering now that all public power was suspended, and that 
the habitual restraint of the people had suddenly ceased, I shuddered 
with the apprehension that they would fall into the dissolution of an- 
ai'chy J but immediately a voice was heard to say : 

" It is not enough that we have freed ourselves from tyrants and 
parasites, we must prevent their return. We tire men, and experi- 
ence has abundantly taught us that every one is fond of power, and 
wishes to enjoy at the expense of others. It is necessary then to 
guard against a propensity which is the source of discord ; we must 
establish certain rules of duty and of right : but the knowledge of 
our rights and the estimation of our duties are so abstract and difficult 
as to require all the time and all the faculties of a man. Occupied 
in our own affairs, we have not leisure for these studies ; nor can we 
exercise these functions in our own persons. Let us choose then 
among ourselves such persons as are capable of this employment. 
To them we will delegate our powers to institute our government and 
laws ; they shall be the representatives of our wills and of oiu- inter- 
ests. And in order to attain the fairest representation possible of 
our wills and our interests, let it be numerous, and composed of men 
resembling ourselves." 

Having made the election of a numerous body of delegates, the 
people thus addressed them : " We have hitherto lived in a society 
formed by chance, without fixed agreements, without free conven- 
tions, without a stipulation of rights, without reciprocal engage- 
ments; and a multitude of disorders and evils have arisen from this 
precarious state. We are now determined on forming a regular 
compact; and we have chosen you to adjust the articles : examine 
then with care what ought to be its basis and its condifions ; consid- 
er what is the end and the principle of every association ; recognise 
the rights which every member brings, tlie powers which he gives up, 
and those which he reserves to himself: point out to us the rules of 
conduct, and equitable laws ; prepare us a new system of govern- 



THE RUINS. 77 

ment ; for we feel that the one which has hitlierto guided us is cor- 
rupt. Our fathers have wandered in the paths of ignorance ; and 
habit has taught us to stray after diem: everything has been done 
by fraud, violence and delusion, and the true laws of morality and 
reason are still obscui-e ; clear up then their chaos ; trace out their 
connexion ; publish their code, and we will adopt it." 

And the people raised an immense throne, in form of a pyramid, 
and seating on it the men they had chosen, said to them: "We 
raise you to day above us, tliat you may better discover the whole 
of our relations, and be above the reach of our passions. 

" But remember ,that you are om- fellow citizens : that the power 
we confer on you is our own ; that we deposit it with you, not as a 
property or an inheritance ; that you must be the first to obey the 
laws you make ; that to-morrow you redescend among us, and that 
you will have acquired no other right but that of our esteem and grat- 
itude. And reflect what tribute of glory the world, which reveres 
so many apostles of error, will bestow on the first assembly of i-ational 
men, who shall have solemnly proclaimed the immutable principles 
of justice, and consecrated in the face of tyrants the rights of nations!" 



CHAPTER XVII. 



UNIVERSAL BASIS OP ALL RIGHT AND ALL LAW. 

The men chosen by the p>eople to investigate the true principles 
of morals and of reason, then proceeded in tlie sacred object of their 
mission ; and after a long examination, having discovered a funda- 
mental and universal principle, a legislator arose and said to the peo- 
ple : " Here is the primordial basis, the physical origin of all justice 
and of all right. 

" Whatever be the active power, the moving cause that governs 
the universe, since it has given to all men the same organs, the same 
sensations, and the same wants, it has thereby declared that it has 
given to all the same right to the use of its treasures, and that all 
men are equal in the order of nature. 
7* 



73 THE RUINS. 

* SeconJl}', since tliis poAver has given to each man the necessary 
means of preserving his own existence, it is evident that it has con- 
stituted tliem all independent one of another ; that it has created them 
free^ that no man is subject to another ; that each is absolute propri- 
etor of his own person. 

" Equality and Libert)' are therefore two essential attributes of 
man; two laws of the Divinity constitutional and unchangeable like 
the physical properties of matter. 

" Now, every individual being absolute master of his own person, 
it follows that a full and free consent is a condition indispensable to 
all contracts and all engagements. 

" Again, since each individual is equal to another, it follows that 
the balance of what is received and of what is given, should be strict 
ly in equilibrium : so that the idea of liberty necessarily imports that 
of justice, the daughter of equality.* 

" Equality and Liberty are therefore the physical and unalterable 
basis of every union of men in society, and consequently the accessary 
and generating principle of every law and of every system of regular 
government. 

" A disregard of this basis has introduced in your nation and in 
every otlier, those disorders which have finally roused you. It is by 
returning to this rule that you may reform them, and reorganize a 
happy order of society. 

" But observe, this reorganization will occasion a violent commo- 
tion in your habits, your fortunes, and your prejudices. Vicious 
contracts and abusive claims must be dissolved ; unjust distinctions,, 
and ill founded property renounced ; indeed you must recur for a mo- 
ment to a state of nature. Consider whether you can consent to so 
many sacrifices." 

Then reflecting on the cnpidity inlierent in tlie heart of man, I 
thought that this people would renounce all ideas of ameli oration. 

But, in a moment, a great number of generous men of tlie highest 

*"Tlie idea of libertj' necessarily imports that of justice, tlie daughter 
of equafity." — The words themselves retrace this connexion : for aeequi- 
librium, ajquitas, teqiialitas are all of the same family, and the physical 
idea of equality in tlie scales of a balance is the archetype of all these 
abstract ideas. Liberty itself, when rightly analyzed, is onfy justice, 
for if a man, because he calls himself free, attacks another, the latter, by 
the same right of liberty can and ought to repel him 5 the right of one is 
equal to the right of the other ; force may suspend this equilibrium, but 
it becomes injustice and tyranny in the lowest democrat as well as in 
thei highest potentate 



THE RUINS. 79 

ank, advancing towards the pyramid, made a solemn abjuration of 
all their distinctions and all tlieir riches. <' Establish for us, said 
tliey, the laws of equality and liberty; we will henceforth possess 
notliing but on the sacred title of justice. 

" Equality, justice, liberty, these shall be our code and our stand- 
ard." 

And then tlie people immediately raised a great standard, in- 
scribe<l with tliese three words, in three different colors. They dis- 
played it over the jiyramid of the legislator, and for tlie first time tlie 
flag of universal justice floated on the face of tlie earth ; and tlie 
people raised before the pyramid a new altar, on which they placed 
golden scales, a sword, and a book with this inscription : 

To equal Law, which judges and protects. 

And having surrounded the pyramid and the altar with a vast am- 
phitheatre, all the nation took their seats to hear the publication of 
the law. And millions of men, raising at once their hands to heaven, 
took the solemn oath to live free and just ; to respect their reciprocal 
properties and rights ; to obey tlie law and its ministers regularly 
constituted. 

A spectacle, so forceful and sublime, so replete witli generous emo. 
tions, moved me to tears, and addressing myself to the Genius : " Let 
me now live," said I, " for in future I have everything to hope." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



CONSTERNATION AND CONSPIRACY OP TYRANTS. 

But scarcely had the solemn voice of liberty and equality resound- 
ed through the earth, when a movement of confusion and astonishment 
arose in different nations ; on the one hand the people, warmed with 
desire, but wavering between hoj)e and fear, between the sentiment 
of right and the habit of oppression, began to be in motion : the 
kings, on the other hand, suddenly awakened from the sleep of indo- 
lence and despotism, were alarmed for the safety of their thrones ; 



80 THE RUINS, 

while on all sides, tliose clans of civil and religious tyrants, who de- 
ceive kings and oppress the people, were seized witli rage and con- 
sternation; and concerting their perfidious plans : " Wo to us," said 
they, " if this fatal cry of liberty comes to the ears of the multitude! 
wo to us if this pernicious spirit of justice be propagated !" — And 
pointing to the floating banner ; " Conceive," said they, " what a 
swarm of evils aie included in those three words! If all men are equal, 
where is our exclusive right to honors and to power 1 If all men are 
to be free, what becomes of our slaves, our vassals, our property 1 
If all are equal in the civil state, where is our prerogative of birth, 
of inheritance '? what becomes of nobility 1 If they are all equal in 
the sight of God, what need of mediators *? where is the priesthood 1 
Let us hasten then to destroy a germ so prolific, .ind so contagious ! 
We must employ all our cunning against this calamity; we must 
frighten the kings, that they may join oiu: cause. We must divide 
the people by national jealousies, and occupy them with commotions, 
Avars and conquests. They must be alarmed at the power of this 
free nation. Let us form a league against the common enemy, de- 
molish that sacrilegious staitdard, overturn that throne of rebellion, 
and stifle the flame of revolution in its birth." 

And indeed, the civil and religious tyrants of nations formed a 
general coalition j and multiplying their followers by force and se- 
duction, they marched in hostile array against the ii'ee nation ; and 
sun'ounding the altar and the pyramid of natural law, they exclaim- 
ed; "What is this new and heretical doctrine 1 What this im- 
pious altar, this sacrilegious worship 1 — True believers and loyal 
subjects ! can you suppose that truth is first disclosed to you to-day ; 
and that hitherto you have been walking in error 1 that those rebels, 
more lucky than you, have tlie sole privilege of wisdom 1 And you, 
misguided nation, perceive you not that your new leaders are de- 
ceiving you, that they pervert the principles of your faith, and over- 
turn the religion of your fathers 1 Ah ! tremble ; lest the wrath of 
heaven should kindle against you, and hasten by speedy repentance, 
to retrieve your error." 

But inaccessible to seduction as well as to fear, the free nation 
answered not, and rising universally in arms, assumed an imposing 
attitude. 

And the legislator said to the chiefs of nations : " If while we 
wallted with a bandage over our eyes the light guided oiur steps, why, 
since we are no longer blindfold, should it escape our search 1 If 



THE RUINS. 81 

guides who prescribe cleai-sightedness to man, mislead and deceive 
him,, what can be expected from those who profess to keep him in 
darkness 1 

" Leaders of the people ! if you possess tlie truth, show it to us. 
we will receive it with gratitude ; for we seek it witli ardor, and 
have a great interest in finding it : we are men and liable to be de- 
ceived ; but you are also men, and equally fallible. Aid us then in 
this labyrinth, where the human race has wandered for so many ages ; 
help us to dissipate the illusion of so many prejudices and vicious 
habits ; amid the shock of so many opinions which dispute for our 
acceptance, assist us in discovering the proper and distinctive cha- 
racter of truth. Let us terminate this day the long combat of error : 
let us establish between it and truth a solemn contest : to which we 
will invite the opinions of men of all nations : let us convoke a gen- 
eral assembly of the nations ; let them be judges in their own cause ; 
and in the debate of all systems, let no champion, no argument be 
wanting either on the side of prejudice or of reason ; and let tlie 
sentiment of a general and common mass of evidence give birth to 
an universal concord of opinions and of hearts." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OP THE NATIONS 

Thus spoke tlie legislator; and the multitude, seized with those 
emotions which a reasonable proposition always inspires, expressed 
its applause ; while the tyrants, left without support, were over- 
whelmed with confusion. 

A scene of a new and astonishing nature then opened to my view ' 
all the people and nations inhabiting the globe, men of every race 
and of every region, converging from their various climates, seemed 
to assemble in one allotted place ; where, forming an immense con- 
gress, distinguislied in groyiips by the vast variety of tlieir dresses, 
features and complexion, the numberless multitude presented a most 
unusual and affecting sight. 



82 THE RUINS. 

On one side I saw the European, with his short close coat, point* 
ed triangular hat, smooth chin, and powdered haur j on the other 
side the Asiatic with a flowing robe, long beard, shaved head, and 
round turban. Here stood the nations of Africa with their ebopy 
skins, their woolly hair, their body girt with white and blue tissues 
of bark, adorned with bracelets and necklaces of coral, shells, and 
glass : there the tribes of the north, enveloped in their leathern bags ; 
the Laplander with his pointed bonnet and his snow shoes ; the Sa- 
moyede, with his feverish body and strong odor ; the Tongouse, with 
his horned cap, and carrying his idols pendant from his neck j the 
Yakoute, with his freckled face ; the Calttiouk, with liis flat nose 
and little retorted eyes. Farther distant were the Chmese, attired 
in silk, with their hair hanging in tresses ; the Japjinese of mingled 
race ; the Malays, with wide-spreading ears, rings in their noses, 
and broad hats of the palm-leaf, and the tattooed races of the isles 
of the ocean and of the continent of the Antipodes. The view of so 
many varieties of the same species, of so many extravagant inven- 
tions of the same understanding, and of so many modifications of the 
same organization, aflfected me Avitb a thousand feelings and a thou- 
sand thoughts. I contemplated with astonishment this gradation ofj 
color which passing from a bright carnation to a light brown, a 
deeper brown, smutty, bronze, olive, leaden, copper, ends in the 
black of ebony and jet. And finding the Kachemirian with his rosy 
cheek, next to the sun burnt Hindoo, and the Georgian by the side 
of the Tartar, I reflected on the effects of climate hot or cold, of 
soil high or low, marshy or dry, open or shaded ; I compared the 
dwarf of the pole with the giant of the temperate zones j the slender 
body of the Arab with the clumsy Hollander ; tlie squat stunted fig- 
ure of the Samoyede with the elegant form of the Greek and the 
Sclavonian, the greasy black wool of the Negro with the bright silken 
locks of the Dane; the broad face of the Calmouk, his little angular 
eyes, and flattened nose, with tlie oval prominent visage, large blue 
eyes, and aquiline nose of the Circassian and the Abazan. I con- 
trasted the brilliant calicoes of the Indian, the well wrought stuflfs of 
the European, the rich furs of the Siberian, with the tissues of bark, 
of osiers, leaves and feathers of savage nations ; and the blue figures 
of serpents, flowers and stars, with which they painted their bodies. 
Sometimes the variegated appearance of this multitude reminded me 
of the enaiuclled meadows of the Nile and of the Euphrates; when, af- 
ter laiiis or inundations, millions of flowers are rising on every side; 



THE RUINS. 83 

Bometimes tlieir murmurs and their motions called to mind the num- 
berless swarms of locusts which, issuing fi-om the desert, cover in 
spring tile plains of Hauran. 

At the sight of so many rational beings, considering on the one 
hand the immensity of ideas and sensations assembled in this place ; 
and on the other hand, reflecting on the opposition of so many opin- 
ions, and the shock of so many passions of men so capricious, I 
struggled between astonishment, admiration, and secret dread, — 
when the legislator commanded silence, and atracted all my atten- 
tion. 

" Inhabitants of earth, a free and powerful nation addresses you 
the words of justice and of peace, and offers you the sure pledges of 
her intentions in her o\vn conviction and experience. Long afflict- 
ed with the same evils as yourselves, we sought for their source, 
and found them all derived from violence and injustice, erected into 
law by the inexperience of past ages, and maintained by the preju- 
dices of the present ; then abolishing our artificial and arbitrary insti- 
tutions, and recurring to the origin of all right and all reason, we 
have found that there existed in the very order of nature, and in the 
physical constitution of man, eternal and immutable laws which only 
waited his observance to render him happy. O men ! cast your eyes 
on the heavens that give you light, and on the earth that gives you 
bread ! Since they offer the same bounties to you all, since from the 
power that gives them motion you have all received the same life, 
the same organs, have you not all received the same right to enjoy 
its benefits 1 Has it not hereby declared you all equal and free 1 
What mortal shall dare refuse to his fellow that which nature gives 
him 1 O nations ! let us banish all tyranny and all discord ; let us 
form but one society, one great family ; and, since human nature has 
but one constitution, let there exist in future but one law, that of na- 
ture ; but one code, that of reason ; but one throne, that of justice 5 
but one altar, that of union." 

He ceased ; and an immense acclamation resoimded to the skies : 
ten thousand benedictions announced the transports of tlie multitude > 
and they made the earth reecho justice, equality and union. But 
different emotions soon succeeded ; soon the doctors and the chiefs of 
nations exciting a spirit of dispute, there was heard a sullen murmur, 
which growing louder, and spreading from group to group, became a 
vast disorder, and each nation setting up exclusive pretensions, 
claimed a preference for its own code and opinion. 



84 THE RUINS. 

" Ycyu are in error," said the parties, pointing one to the other ; 
" we alone are in posL'Sssion of reason and truth. We alone have the 
true law, the real rule of right and justice, the jnly means of happiness 
and perfection ; all other men are either blind or rebellious." And 
great agitation prevailed. 

But the legislator having ordered silence : " People," said he, 
" what is that passionate emotion'? Whltlier will that quarrel conduct 
you 1 What can you expect from this dissension 1 The earth has 
been for ages a field of disputation ; and you haVe shed torrents of 
blood for chimerical opinions : what have you gained by so many 
battles and tears 1 When the strong has subjected (he weak to his 
opinion, has he thereby aided the cause of truth 1 O nations ! take 
counsel of your own wisdom ! When amou? yourselves disputes 
arise between families and individuals, how do you reconcile them 1 
Do you not give them arbitrators 1 Yes, cried tlie whole rauhitude. 
Do so then to tlie authors of your present dissensions. Order those 
who call themselves your instructers, and who force their creeds upon 
you, to discuss before you their reasons. Since they appeal to your 
interests, inform yourselves how they support them. And you, chiefs 
and doctors of the people, before dragging them into the quarrels of 
your opinions, let the reasons for and against them be discussed. Let 
us establish one solemn controversy, one public scrutiny of truth, not 
before the tribunal of a corruptible individual, or a prejudiced party, 
but in tlie forum of mankind, presided by all their information and 
all their interests. Let the natural sense of k'le whole human race 
be our arbiter and judge." 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE SEARCH OF TRUTH. 



The people expressed their applause, and the legislator said: 
" To proceed with order, and avoid all confusion, let a spacious 
semicircle be left vacant in front of the altar of peace and union j let 
each system of religion, and each particular sect, erect its proper 
distinctive standai-d on the line of this semicircle : let its chiefs and 



THE RUINS. 85 

doctors place themselves around tlie standard, and tlieir followers 
form a column behind tliem." 

The semicircle being traced, and the order published, there in- 
stantly rose an innumerable multiftide of standards, of all colors and 
of every form, like what we see in a great commercial port, when, 
on a day of rejoicing, a thousand different flags and streamers are 
floating from a forest of masts. At sight of this prodigious diversity, 
turning towards the Genius : " I thought," said I, ** that the eai'tli was 
divided only into eight or ten systems of faith, and I then despaired 
of a reconciliation : now that I behold thousands of different sects, 
how can I hope for concord '? " — " But these," replied the Genius, 
" are not all ; and yet they will be intolerant ! — " 

Then, as the groups advanced to take their stations, he pomted 
out to me their distinctive marks, and thus began to explain tlieir 
characters : 

" That first group," said he, "witli a green banner, bearing a cres- 
cent, a bandage, and a sabre, are the followers of the Arabian pro- 
phet. To say there is a God (without knowing what he is ;) to 
believe the words of a man (witliout undei-standing his? language;) 
to go into the desert to pray to God (who is everywhere ;) to wash 
the hands with watei- (and not abstain from blood ;) to fast all day 
(and eat all night;) to give alms of their own goods (and to plunder 
those of others ;) such are the means of perfection instituted by Ma- 
homet, such are the symbols of his followers. Whoever does not 
adopt them is a reprobate, stricken with anathema, and devoted to 
the sword. A merciful God, the author of life, has instituted these 
laws of oppression and murder : he made them for all the world, but 
has revealed them only to one man ; he established them from all 
eternity, though he made them knoM'n but yesterday ; they are abun- 
dantly sufficient for all purposes, and yet a volume is added to them ; 
tliis volume was to diffuse light, to exliibit evidence, to lead men to 
perfection and happiness ; and yet eveiy page was so full of obscuri- 
ties, ambiguities, and contradictions, that commentaries and explan- 
ations became necessary, even in the lite time of its apostle ; and 
its interpreters, differing in opinion, divided into opposite and hos- 
tile sects. One maintains that Ali is the true successor ; the otlier 
contends for Omar and Aboubekre. This denies the eternity of the 
Coran ; that the necessity of ablutions and prayers ; the Carmate 
forbids pilgrimages and allows the use of wine : the Hakemito 
preaches the transmigration of souls : thus they make up the numl^r 
8 



86 THE RUINS. 

of seventy-two sects, whose banners are before you. In this contes- 
tation, every one attributing the evidence of truth exclusively to 
himself, and taxing all others witli heresy and rebellion, tui-ns against 
them his sanguinary zeal. And their religion which celebrates a 
mild and merciful God, the common Father of all men, converted to 
a torch of discord, a signal for war and murder, has not ceased for 
twelve hundred years to deluge the earth in blood,* and to ravage 
and desolate the ancient hemisphere from one end to the other. 

" Those m?n, distinguished by their enormous white turbans 
their broad sleeves, and their long rosaries, are the Imams, the Mol- 
las, and the Mufties ; and near them are the dervices with pointed 
bonnets, and the santons witli dishevelled hair. Behold with what 
vehemence Uiey recite then: professions of faith ! They are now 
beginning a dispute about the greater and lesser impurities ; about 
the matter and the manner of ablutions ; about the attributes of God 
and his perfections, about the chaitan, and the good and wicked 
angels ; about death, the resurrection, the interrogatory in the tomb, 
the judgment, the passage of the bridge not broader than a hair, tlie 
balance of works, the pains of hell, and the joys of paradise. 

" Next to these, that second more numerous group, witli white 
banners intersected with crosses, are the followers of Jesus. Ac- 
luiovvledging the same God with the Mussulmen, founding their be- 
lief on the same books, admitting like them, a first man who damned 
the human race by eating an apple, they hold tliem however in a 
holy abhorrence, and out of pure piety, they call each other impious 
blasphemers. The great point of their dissension consists in this, 
that after admitting a God one and indivisible, the Christian divides 
him into three persons, each of which he believes to be a complete 
and entire God, witliout ceasing to constitute an identical whole, by 
the indivisibility of tlie three. And he adds, that this being, who 
fills the universe, has dwindled into the body of a man, and has as- 
sunverl material, perishable, and limited organs, without ceasing to 
be immaterial, infinite and eternal. The Mussulman, who does 
not comprehend these mysteries, rejects them as follies, and the vis- 



* " And this religion (Mahomet's) has not ceased to deluge the earth 
in blood."— Read the history of Islamism by its own Avriters, and you 
will be convinced that one of the principal causes of the wars which 
have desolated Asia and Africa since the days of Mahomet, has been the 
apostolical fanaticism of its doctrine. Cesar has been supposed to have 
destroyed three millions of men •, it would be interesting to make a sim- 
ilar calculation respecting every founder of a religious system. 



THE RUINS. 87 

ions of d distempered brain, though he conceives perfectly well the 
eternity of the Coran and tlie mission of the prophet j hence their 
implacable bati'eds. 

" Again, the Christians, divided among themselves on many points, 
have formed parties not less violent than the Mussulmen ; and their 
quarrels are so much the more obstinate, as the objects of them are 
Inaccessible to the senses, and incapable of demonstration : their 
opinions, therefore, have no other basis but the will and caprice of 
the parties. Thus, while they agi'ee that God is a being incompre- 
hensible and unknown, they dispute nevertheless about his essence, 
his mode of acting, and his attributes : while they agree that his 
pretended transformation into a man, is an enigma above the human 
understanding, they dispute on the junction or distinction of his two 
wills and his two natiures, on his change of substance, on the real or 
fictitious presence, on the mode of incarnation, etc. etc. 

" Hence those innumerable sects, of which two or three hundred 
have akeady perished, and three or four hundred others, which still 
subsist, display those numberless baimers which here distract your 
eight. The first in order, surrounded by a group in various fantastic 
dress, that confused mixture of violet, red, white, black and speckled 
garments : with heads shaved, with tonsures, or with short hair : 
with red hats, square bonnets, pointed mitres or long beards, is the 
standard of the Roman pontiff: who, uniting the civil government to 
the priesthood, has erected the supremacy of his city into a point of 
religion, and made of his pride an article of faith. 

" On his right you see the Greek pontiff, who, proud of the rival- 
ship of his metropolis, sets up equal pretensions, and supports them 
against the Western church by the priority of that of the East. On 
the left, are the standards of two recent chiefs,* who shaking off a 
yoke that had become tyrannical, have raised altar against altar in 
their reform, and wrested half of Europe from the pope. Behind 
tliese are the subaltern sects, subdivided from the principal divisions, 
the Nestorians, the Eutycheans, the Jacobites, the Iconoclasts, die 
Anabaptists, tlie Presbyterians, the Wicliffites, the Osiandiians, the 
Manicheans, the Pietists, the Adamites, tlie Contemplatives, the 
Quakers the Weepers, and a hundred others :f all of distinct par- 
ties, persecuting when strong, tolerant when weak, hating each other 

* Luther and Calvin. 

J "And a hundred others."— Consult uponthis subject, Dictionnaire dea 
bereaies par 1 'abbe Fluquet, who has omitted a great number, in 2 vol. 8vo 



88 THE RUINS. 

m the name of a God of peace, forming each an exclusive heaven in 
a religion of universal charity, dooming each other to pains without 
end in a future state, and realizing in this world the imaginai-y hell 
of the other." 

After tliis group, observing a solitary standard of the color of hy- 
acinth, round which were assembled men of all the different dresses 
of Europe and Asia ; "At least," said 1 to the Genius, " we shall find 
unanimity here :" " Yes," said he, '* at first sight, and by a mo- 
mentary accident : do you not know that system of worship^" Then, 
perceiving in Hebrew letters the monogram of the name of God, and 
the palms which the rabbins held in their hands : " True," said I, 
" tliese are the children of Moses, dispersed even to this day, abhorring 
every nation, and abhorred and persecuted by all." — " Yes," he re- 
plied, " and for this reason, that having neither time nor liberty to 
dispute, they have the appearance of unanimity, but no sooner will 
they come together, compare Uieir principles, and reason on their 
opinions, than they will separate, as formerly, at least into two princi- 
pal sects,* one of which, taking advantage of the silence of their legis- 
lator, and adhering to the literal sense of his books, will deny every- 
thing that is not clearly expressed tljerein, and on this principle will 
reject as inventions of the circumcised, the immortality of the soul, its 
transmigration to places of pain or pleasure, its resurrection, the final 
judgment, the good and bad angels, the revolt of the evil Genius, 
and all the poetical system of a world to come : and tliis highly fa- 
vored people, whose perfection consists in cutting off a little piece 
of skin : this atom of a people, which forms but a wave in tlie Ocean 
of mankind, and which insists that God has made nothing but for 
them, will by its schism reduce to one iialf its present trifling weight 
in the scale of the universe." 

He then showed me a neighbouring group, composed of men 
dressed in white robes, wearing a veil over their months, and rang- 
ed around a banner of the color of the morning sky, on which was 
painted a globe cut into two hemispheres, black and white ; " The 
same thing will happen," said he, " to these children of Zoroaster, tlie 
obscure remnants of a people once so powerful ; at present, persecu- 
ted like tlie Jews, and dispersed among other nations, they receive 
witliout discussion the precepts of the representative of their pro- 
phet ; but as soon as the mobed and the destours shall assemble, they 
will renew the controversy about tlie good and the bad principle ; on 
* The Sadducees and the Pharisees. 



THE RUINS. 89 * 

tlie combats of Ormuzd, god of light, and Ahrimanes, god of dark- 
ness ; on the direct and allegorical sense ; on the good and evil genii j 
on the worship of fire and the elements ; on impurities and abki- 
lions J on tlie resurrection of the soul and body or only of the soul ; 
on the renovation of the present world, and on that which is to take 
its place. And the Pai'ses will divide * into sects so much tlie more 
numerous, as duriiig their dispersion their families will have contract- 
ed the manners and opinions of foreign nations. 

" Next to these, remark those banners of an azure ground, paint- 
ed with monstrous figures of human bodies, double, triple, quadru- 
ple, with heads of lions, boars and elephants, with tails of fishes and 
tortoises, etc., these are the ensigns of the sects of India, who find 
their gods in various animals, and the souls of their fathers in rep- 
tiles and insects. These men endow hospitals for hawks, serpents 
and rats j and they abhor their fellow creatures ! They purify them- 
selves with the dung and urine of cows; and think themselves defiled 
by the touch of a man ! They wear a net over the mouth, for fear 
of swallowing, in a fly, a soul in a state of penamce, and they can see 
a paria perish with hunger ! They acknowledge the same gods, but 
they separate into hostile bands. 

" The first standard, retired from the rest, bearing a figure with 
four heads, is that of Brahma, who, though the creator of the uni- 
verse, is without temples or followers ; but reduced to serve as a ped- 
estal to the Lingam,t he contents himself with a little water which 
tlie bramin throws every morning on his shoulder, reciting an idle 
canticle in his praise. 

" The second, bearing a kite with a scarlet body and a white head, 
is that of Vichenou, who though preserver of the world, has passed 
part of his life in wicked actions. You sometimes see him under 
the hideous form of a boar or a lion tearing human entrails, or under 
that of a horse, shortly to come armed with a sabre to destroy all 
that has life, to extinguish the stars, annihilate the' planets, Khake 
the earth, and force the great serpei^t to vomit a fire which shall con- 
sume the spheres. 

* " And the Parses will divide."— The followers of Zoroaster, caltod 
Parses, because they are descended from the Persians, are better knowa 
in Asia by the opprobrious name of Gaures or Guebres, which means in- 
fidels 5 they are in Asia what the Jews are in Europe. The name of 
their pope or high-priest is Mobed. See, respecting the rites of this reli- 
gion, Henry Lord, Hyde emd the Zend-Avesta. 

t '• Brahma— reduced to serve as a pedestal to the Lingam."— See 
Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes, vol. 1. 
8* 



90 THE RUINS. 

" The third is that of Chiven, god of desolation and destruction, 
who has however for his emblem the symbol of generation ; he is the 
wickedest of the three, and he has the most followers. These men 
proud of his character, express in their devotions to him their con- 
tempt for the other gods,* his equals and brothers ; and, in imitation 
of his inconsistencies, while they profess great modesty and chastity, 
they publicly crown witli flowers and sprinkle witli milk and' honey 
the obscene image of the Lingam. 

" In the rear of these, approach the smaller standards of a muUi- 
tude of gods, male, female, and hermaphrodite; these are friends and 
relations of the three principal gods, and have passed their lives in 
wars among themselves : and their followers imitate them. These 
gods have need of nothing, and they are constantly receiving presents ; 
they are omnipotent and omnipresent, and a Bramin by muttering a 
few words shuts them up in an idol or a pitcher, to sell their favors 
for his own benefit. 

" Beyond these, that cloud of standards which, on a yellow ground 
common to them all, bear various emblems, are those of the same god, 
who reigns under different names in the nations of the East The 
Chinese adores him in Fot,t the Japanese, in Budso, the inhabitant 
of Ceylon in Bedhou and Boudah, of Laos in Chekia, the Peguan in 
Phta, the Siamese in Sommona-Kodom, the Tibetan in Boudd and 
in La ; agreeing in some points of his history, they all celebrate his 
life of penitence, his mortifications, his fastings, his functions of me- 
diator and expiator, the enmity between him and another god his 
adversary, their battles, and his ascendency. But as they disagree 
on the means of pleasing him, tliey dispute about rites and ceremonies, 
and about the dogmas of interior doctrine and of public doctrine. 

* When a sectary of Chiven hears the name of Vichenou pronounced, 
he stops his ears, runs away, and purifies himself. 

t " The Chinese adores him in Fot."— The Chinese language having 
neither B nor D, that people pronounces Fot what the Indians and Per- 
sians call Bodd, or Boudd (with short Ou.) Fot, in Pegu, changes into 
Fota and Fta, etc. It is only within a few years that we begin to have 
exact notions of the doctrine of Boudd and of his various sectaries ; and 
we are indebted for them to the learned men of England, who, according 
as their nation subdues the people of India, study their religions and 
manners in order to make them known. The work entitled Asiatic Re- 
searches is a precious collection of the kind : we find in vol. 6, page 163 ; 
in vol. 7, page 32 and page 399, three instructive memoirs concerning 
the Boudists of Ceylon and of Birmah or Ava. An anonymous writer, 
but who appears to have meditated this subject, has published in the Asi- 
atic Jounsa) of 1816, month of January and following, until May, letters 
which pro; 's^e further details of the highest interest. We shall resume 
u*.w -abject «i> a note to chapter XXI. 



THE RUINS. 91 

That Japanese bonze, with a yellow robe, and naked liead, preaches 
the eternity of souls, and their successive transmigrations into various 1 
bodies; near him, the Sintoist denies that souls can exist* separate | 
from the senses, and maintains that tiiey are only the effect of the or- k 
gans to which they belong, and with which they must perish, as the I 
soun4 with the musical instrument. — Near him, the Siamese, with | 
his eyebrows shaved^ and a talipat screen in his hand,! reconfimends 
alms, offerings and expiations, and yet believes in blind necessity 
and inexorable fate. The Chinese hochang sacrifices to the souls of 
his ancestors', and next him, the follower of Conflicius interrogates 
his destiny X in the cast of dice and the movement of the stars. That 
child, surrounded by a swarm of priests in yellow robes and hats, is 
the Grand Laraa,§ in whom the god of Tibet has just become in- 
carnate. But a rival has arisen v/ho partakes this benefit with him ; 
and tlie Calmouc on the banks of lake Baikal has a God similar to 
the inhabitant of Lasa ; but they agree, however, in one important 
point, that god can inhabit only a human body ; they both laugh at 
the stupidity of the Indian who pays homage to cowdung, though they 
themselves consecrate the excrements of their higlj-priest." 

After tliese, a crowd of otlier banners which no man could number, 
came forward into sight : and the Genius exclaimed ; " I should never 

=* " The Sintoist denies that souls can exist." — See in Kempfcr the 
doctrine of the Sintoists, which is a mixture of that of Epicurus and the 
Stoics. 

t " The Siamese, with the talipat screen in his hand,"— It is a leaf of 
the latanier species of the palm tree ; hence the Bonzes of Siam take the 
appellation of Talapoin. The use of this screen is an exclusive privilege. ~ 

J" The follower of Confucius interrogates his destiny."— The sectaries 
of Confucius are no less addicted to astrology than the Bonzes. It is 
indeed the moral malady of every Eastern nation. 

^ "The Grand-Lama, Dalai-Lama, or immense priest of La."— Is the 
same person whom we lind mentioned in our old books of travels by 
the name of Prester- John, from a corruption of the Persian word Djeh^n, 
which signifies the world. Thus the priest World, and the God World 
are intiniiitely connected. 

In a recent expedition, the English have found certain idols of the 
Lamas filled in the inside with sacred pastils from tlie closestool of the 
high-priest. The fact is attested by Hastings, and colonel Pollier, who 
perished in the troubles of Avignon. It vvill be very extraordinary to 
observe, that this disgusting ceremony is connected with a profound 
philosophical system, "to wit, that of tlie metcmpsycliosis, admitted by 
the Lamas. When the Tartars swallow the sacred relics of the pontiff 
(which they are accustomed to do,) they imitate the laws of the universe, 
the parts of which are incessantly absorbed and pass into the substance 
of each other. -It is the serpent devouring his tail ; and this serpent is 
Boudd and the world. 



92 THE RUINS. 

finish the detail of all the systems of faith which divide these nations. 
Here, the hordes of the Tartars adore in the forms of beasts, birds 
and insects, the good and evil genii ; who, under a principal but indo- 
lent god, govern the universe ; in their idolatry they call to mind the 
ancient paganism of the West. You observe the fantastical dress of 
their chamans, who under a robe of leather hung round with bells 
and rattles, idols of iron, claws of birds, skins of snakes and heads 
of owls, are agitated by factitious convulsions, and invoke with magi- 
cal cries the dead to deceive the living. There, the black tribes of 
Africa, exliibit the same opinions in the worship of tlieir fetiches. 
See the inhabitant of Juida worship god in a gieat snake, which 
unluckily the swine delight to eat.* The Teleutean attires his god 
in a coat of several colors like a Russian soldier if the Kamphadale, 
observing that everything goes wrong in his frozen climate, consid- 
ers him as an old ill natured man, smoking his pipe and hunting 
foxes and martins in his sledge ; but you may still behold a hundred 
savage nations who have none of the ideas of civilized people respect- 
ing God, the soul, another world, and a fiiture life : who have formed 
no system of worship, and who nevertheless enjoy the gifts of nature 
in tlie irreligion in which she has created them." 

* <' Worship god in a great snake which the swine delight to eat." — 
It frequently happens that the swine devour the very species of serpents 
adored by the negroes, and this occasions great desolation in the country. 
President de Borsses has given us in his history of the fetiches, a curious 
collection of absurdities of this nature. 

f "The Teleutean attires."— The Teleuteans, a Tartar nation, paint 
God as wearing a vesture of all colors, particularly red and green •, and 
as these constitute the uniform of the Rnssian dragoons, they compare 
him to this description of soldiers. The Egyptians also dress the God 
World in a garment of every color. Eusebius, Prcep, Evang. p. 115, 
nook 3. The Teleuteans, call God Bou, which is only an alteration of 
Boudd, the God Egg and World. 



THE RUINS. 93 

CHAPTER XXI. 

PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS CONTRADICTIONS 

The various groups having taken their places, an unbounded silence 
succeeded to the murmurs of the multitude, and the legislator said : 
" Chiefs and doctors of mankind ! you remark how the nations, living 
apart, have hitherto followed different paths, each believing its own 
to be that of truth. If however, truth is one, and opinions are vari- 
ous, it is evident that some are in error. If then such vast numbers 
of us are in the wrong, who shall dare to say, I am in the right 1 
Begin therefore by being indulgent in your dissensions. Let us all 
seek truth as if no one possessed it. The opinions wliich to this day 
have governed the world, originating from chance, propagated in 
obscurity, admitted without discussion, accredited by a love of nov- 
elty and imitation, have usurped their empire in a clandestine man- 
ner. It is time, if they are well founded, to give a solemn stamp to 
their certainty, and legitimate their existence. Let us summon them 
this day to a general scrutiny, let each propound his creed, let the 
whole assembly be the judge, and let that alone be acknowledged true 
which is so for the whole human race. 

Then, by order of position, the first standard on tlie left was allow- 
ed to speak : " You are not permitted to doubt," said their chiefs, 
" tliat our doctrine is the only true and infallible one. First it is re- 
vealed by God himself. — " 

" So is ours," cried all the other standards, " and you are not per- 
mitted to doubt it." 

" But at least," said the legislator, " you must propose it ; for we 
cannot believe what we do not know." 

*' Om- doctrine is proved," replied the first standard, " by nu- 
merous facts ; by a multitude of miracles, by resurrections of the dead, 
by rivers dried up, by mountains removed, etc." 

" And we also," cried all the otiiers, " we have numberless mira- 
cles :" and each began to recount the most incredible things. 

" Their miracles," said the first standard, " are imaginary ; or tlie 
fictions of the evil spirit, who has deluded them." 

" They are yours," said the others, " that are imaginary;" and 



94 THE RUINS. 

each group, speaking of itself, cried out : " None but ours are true ; 
all the others are false." 

The legislator asked : " Have you living witnesses t " 

" No," replied they all : " the facts are ancient, the witnesses are 
dead, but their writings remain." 

" Be it so," replied the legislator; "but if they contradict each 
other, who shall reconcile them 1 " 

" Just judge ! " cried one of the standards, " the proof that our 
witnesses have seen the truth is that they died to confirm it, and our 
faith is sealed with the blood of martyrs." 

" And ours too," said the other standards : " we have thousands 
of martyrs who died in the most excruciating torments, without 
ever denying the truth." Then the Christians of every sect, the 
Mussulmen, the Indians, the Japanese, recited endless legends of 
confessors, martyrs, penitents, etc. 

And one of these parties having denied the martyrology of the 
others : " Well," said they, " we will then die ourselves to prove 
the truth of our belief." ' 

And instantly a crowd of men of every religion and of every sect, 
presented themselves to suffer the torments of death. Many even 
began to tear their arms, and to beat their heads and breasts, with- 
out discovering any symptom of pain. 

But the legislator preventing them : " O men ! " said he, ** hear 
my words with patience : if you die to prove that two and two make 
four, will your death render this truth more evident 1 " 

" No," answered all. 

" And if you die to prove that they make five, will that make 
them five 1" , 

Again they all answered, ** No." 

" What tlien is your persuasion to prove, if it changes not the exis- 
tence of things 1 Truth is one, your persuasions are various ; many 
of you therefore arc in error. Now, if man, as is evident, can per- 
suade himself of error, what does his persuasion prove 1 

" If error has its martyrs, what is the criterion of truth 1 

" If the evil spirit works miracles, what is tlie distinctive charac- 
ter of God 1 

" Besides, why resort forever to incomplete and insufficient mira- 
cles ■? Instead of changing the course of nature, why not rather 
change opinions 1 Why murder and teirify men, instead of instruct- 
ing and correcting them 1 



THE RUINS. 95 

** O credulous, but opinionated mortals ! none of us know what was 
done yesterday, what is even doing to day under our eyes, and we 
swear to what was done two thousand years ago ! 

" Oh, the weakness, and yet the pride of men ! the laws of nature 
are immutable and profound, our minds are full of illusion and fri- 
volity, and yet we would comprehend everything, determine every- 
thing ! Verily, it is easier for the whole human race to be in an 
error, than to change the nature of an atom." 

" Well then," said one of the doctors, " let us lay aside the evi- 
dence of fact, since it is uncertain ; let us come to argument, the 
proofs inherent in the doctrine." 

Then came forward, with a look of confidence, an Imam of the 
law of Mahomet ; and, having advanced into the circle, turned to- 
wards Mecca and recited with great fervor his confession of faith : 
*' Praised be God," said he, with a solemn and imposing voice ' 
" The light shinetli with full evidence, and truth has no need of ex- 
amination :" then showing tlie Coran : " Here," said he, " is the 
light of truth in its proper essence. There is no doubt in this book; 
it conducts with safety him who walks in darkness, and Avho receives 
without discussion the divine word which descended on tlie prophet 
to save the simple, and confound the wise. God has established 
Mahomet his minister on earth ; he has given him the world, tliat 
he may subdue with the sword whoever shall refuse to receive his 
law : infidels dispute and will not believe ; their obduracy comes 
from God, who has hardened their hearts to deliver them to dreadful 
punishments. " * 

At these words, a violent murmur arose on all sides, and silenced 
the speaker. " Who is this man," cried all the groups, " who thus 
gratuitously insults us "? What right has he to impose his creed on 
us as conqueror and tyrant 1 Has not God endowed us, as well as 
him, with eyes, understanding and reason 1 And have we not an 
equal right to use them, in choosing what to believe and what to re- 
ject 1 If he attacks us, shall we not defend ourselves'? If he likes 
to believe witliout examination, must Ave therefore not examine be- 
fore we believe 1 

" And what is tliis luminous doctrine that fears the light "? Wliat 
is this apostle of a God of clemency, who preaches nothing but mur- 
der and carnage 1 . What is this God of justice, who punishes blind- 

* This passage contams the sense and nearly the very words of the 
first chapter of the Coran. 



96 THE RUINS. 

ness wliicli he himself has made 1 If violence aad persecution are 
the arguments of truth, must gentleness and charity be looked on 
as signs of falsehood 1 " 

A man then advancing from a neighbouring group, said to tlie 
Imam : " Admitting that Mahomet is the apostle of the best doctrine, 
the prophet of the t»-ue religion ; have the goodness at least to tell 
us, in tiie practice of his doctrine, whether we are to follow his son- 
in-law Ali, or his vicars Omar and Aboiibekre V* 

At the sound of these names a terrible schism arose among the 
Mussulmen themselves : the partisans of Omar and of Ali, calling 
out heretics and blasphemers, loaded each other with execrations. 
The quarrel became so violent, that the neighbouring groups were 
obliged to interfere to prevent their coming to blows. 

At length, tranquillity being somewhat restored, the legislator said 
to the Imams : " See the consequences of your principles ! If you 
yourselves were to carry them into practice, you would destroy each 
other to the last man ; is it' not the first law of God that man should 
live.'? " Then addressing himself to the other groups : " Doubtless," 
said he, "this intolerant and exclusive spirit shocks every idea of 
justice, and overturns the whole foundation of morals and society ; 
but before we totally reject this code of doctrine, is it not proper 
to hear some of its dogmas, in order not to pronounce on tlie forms, 
without having some knowledge of the substance 1 " 

The groups having consented, the Imam began to expound how 
God, after having sent to the nations, lost in idolatry, twenty-four 
thousand prophets, had finally sent the last, tlie seal and perfection 
of all, Mahomet, on whom be the salvation of peace : how, to prevent 
the divine word from being any longer perverted by infidels, the su- 
preme bounty had itself written the pages of the Goran : then ex- 
plaining the particular dogmas of Islamisra, the Imam unfolded how 
the Coran, partaking of the divine nature, was increate and eternal, 
like its autlior : how it had Ijeen sent leaf by leaf in twenty-four 
thousand nocturnal apparitions of the angel Gabriel : How the angel 
announced himself by a gentle knocking, which threw the prophet 
into a cold sweat ; how, in the visioa of one night, he had travelled 
over ninety heavens, riding on the animal Boraq, half a horse and 
lialf gi woman : how, endowed with the gift of miracles, he walked 
in the sunshine without a shadow, turned dry trees to green, filled 

* These are tlie two grand parties into wh-ich the Mussulmen are divl 
ded. The Turks have embraced the second, the Persians the first 



THE RUINS. 97 

wells and cisterns with water, and split in two the body of the moon : 
how, by divine command, Mahomet had propagated, sword in hand, 
the religion the most worthy of God by its sublimity, and the best 
adapted for man by the simplicity of its practice, since it consisted 
in only eight or ten points : to profess the unity of God ; to acknow- 
ledge Mahomet as his only prophet ; to .pray five times a day ; to 
fast one month in the year ; to go to Mecca once in our life ; to pay 
the tenth of all we possess ; to drink no .Aviiie ; to eat no pork ; and 
to make war upon tiie infidels ; he taught that by these means every 
Mussulman, becoming himself an apostle and a martyr, should enjoy 
in this world many blessings ; and at his death, his soul weighed in 
the balance of works, and absolved by the two black angels, should 
pass the infernal pit on the bridge as narrow as a hair and as sharp 
as the edge of a sword, and should finally be received to a region of 
delight, watered with rivers of milk and honey, and embalmed in all 
the perfumes of India and Arabia ; and where the celestial houris, 
virgins always chaste, are eternally crowning witli repeated favors 
the elect of God, who preserve an eternal youdi. 

At these words, an involuntary smile was seen on every counte- 
nance ; and the various groups, reasoning on these articles of faith, 
exclaimed with one voice : "Is it possible that reasonable beings can 
admit such reveries 1 would not you think it a chapter from the Ara- 
bian nights 1 " 

A Samoyed advanced into the circle : " The paradise of Maho- 
met," said he, "appears very desirable; but one of the means of 
gaining it is embarrassing : for if we must neither eat nor drink be- 
tween the rising and setting sun, as he has ordered, how are we to 
practice that fast in my country, where the sun continues above the 
horizon four months without setting 1 " 

" That is impossible," cried all die Mussulman doctors, to sup- 
port the honor of the prophet ; but a hundred nations having attest- 
ed the fact, the infallibility of Mahomet could not but receive a 
severe shock. 

" It is singular," said an European, " tliat God should be con- 
stantly revealing what takes place in heaven, without ever instructing 
us what is doing on the earth ! " 

" For my part," says an American, " I find a great difficuhy in 

the pilgrimage ; for suppose twenty-five years to a generation and 

only a hundred millions of males on the globe : each being obliged 

to go to Mecca once in his life, there mus* be foui miiiions a year 

9 



93 THE RUINS. 

on the journey ; and as it would be impracticable for tliem to return 
the same year, the numbers would be doubled, that is, eight mniions: 
ivhere would you find provisions, lodging, water, vessels for this uni- 
versal procession '? Here must be miracles indeed ! " 

" The proof," said a Catholic doctor, " that the religion of Ma- 
homet is not revealed, is diat the greater part of the ideas which 
serve for its basis existed a long time before, and that it is only a 
confused mixture of truths disfigured and taken from our holy religion 
and from that of the Jews ; which an ambitious man has made to 
serve his projects of domination, and his worldly views. Peruse 
his book, you will see nothing there but the histories of the Bible 
and the Gospel, travestied into absurd fables ; a tissue of vague and 
contradictory declamations, and ridiculous or dangerous precepts. 
Analyze the spirit of tliese precepts, and the conduct of their apostle, 
you will find there an artful and audacious character; which to obtam 
its end, works ably, it is true, on the passions of the people it had to 
govern. Speaking to simple and credulous men, it entertains tliem 
with miracles; they are ignorant and jealous, and it flatters their vanity 
by despising science ; tliey are poor and rapacious, and it excites their 
cupidity by the hope of pillage; having nothing at first to give them 
on earth, it tells tliem of treasures in heaven ; it teaches them to 
desire death as the supreme good ; it threatens cowards with bell ; 
it rewards the brave with paradise ; it sustains tlie weak with the 
opinion of fatality ; in short, it produces tlie attachment it wants by 
all tlie allurements of sense and all tlie power of the passions. 

" How different is tlie chai-acter of our religion ! and how com- 
pletely does its empire, founded on tlie counteraction of our natural 
inclinations, and the mortification of all our passions, prove its di- 
vine origin ! how forcibly does its mild and compassionate morality, 
its affections altogether spiritual, attest its emanation from the di- 
vinity 1 Many of its doctrines, it is true, soar above the reach of 
the understanding, and impose on reason a respectful silence ; but 
this more fully demonstrates its revelation, since the human mind 
could never have imagined such mysteries." Then, holding the Bi- 
ble in one hand and the four Gospels in the other, the doctor began 
to relate, that in the beginning, God (after having passed an eternity 
in inaction) took the resolution, without any known cause, of making 
the world out of nothing ; that having created tlie whole universe in 
six days, he found himself fatigued on the seventh ; tliat having placed 
tlie first human pair in a garden of delights, to make them complete- 



THE RUINS. 99 

y happy, he forbade their tasting a particular fruit which he left 
within their reach ; that these ifirst parents, having yielded to the 
temptation, all tlieir race (yet unborn) had been condemned to bear 
the penalty of a fault which they had not committed ; that, after 
having left the human race to damn themselves for four or five thou* 
sand years, this God of mercy ordered a dearly beloved son, whom 
he had engendered without a mother, and who was as old as himself, 
to go and be put to deatli on tlie earth ; and tliis, for tlie solvation 
of mankind, of whom much the greater portion, nevertheless, have 
ever since continued in the way of perdition ; that to remedy this 
new difficulty, this same God, born of a virgin, having died and risen 
from tlie dead, assumes a new existence every day, and in the form 
of a piece of bread, multiplies himself by millions at the voice of one 
of the vilest of men ; then passing on to the doctrine of the sacra- 
ments, he was going to treat at large of the power of absolution and 
reprobation, of the means of purging all sins by a little water and a 
few words, when, uttering the words indulgence, power of the pope, 
sufficient or efficacious grace, he was interrupted by a thousand cries. 
" It is a horrible abuse," exclaimed the Lutherans, " to pretend to 
remit sins for money." " The notion of the real presence," cried 
the Calvinists, " is contrary to the text of the gospel," " The pope 
has no right to decide anything of himself," cried the Jansenists ; 
and thirty other sects, rising up and accusing each other of heresy 
and error, it was no longer possible to hear anytiiing distinctly. 

Silence being at last restored, tlie Massulmen observed to the leg- 
islator ; " since you have rejected our doctrine as containing tilings 
incredible, can you admit that of the Christians 1 is not theirs still 
more contrary to common sense and justice 1 a God, immaterial and 
infinite, to become a man 1 to have a son as old as himself ! this 
god-man to become bread, to be eaten and digested ! have we any- 
thing equal to that "? Have the Christians an exclusive right to ex- 
act implicit faith 1 and will you grant tliem privileges of belief to 
our detriment 1 " 

Some savage tribes then advanced : " What ! " said they, " be- 
cause a man and woman ate an apple six thousand years ago, all 
the human race are damned "l and you call God just ! What tyrant 
ever rendered children responsible for the faults of tlieir fathers ! 
What man can answer for another's actions : Is not this subversive 
of every idea of justice and of reason 1 " , ' 

Others exclaimed : " Where are the proofs, the witnesses of these 



100 THE RUINS. 

pretended facts 1 Can we receive them without examining the evi- 
dence 1 The least action in a court of justice requires two witness- 
es ; and we are ordered to believe all this on mere tradition and 
hearsay ! " 

A Jewish rabbin then addressing tlie assembly, said ; " As to the 
fundamental facts we are sureties ; but with regard to their form and 
application, the case is different, and the Christians are here con- 
demned by their own arguments ; ^or they cannot deny that we are 
the original source from which tliey are derived, the primitive stock 
on which they are grafted ; and hence the reasoning is very short : 
either our law is from God, and then theirs is a heresy, since it 
differs from ours ; or our law is not from God, and then theirs falls 
at the same time." 

" But you must make this distinction," replied tlie Christian: "your 
law is from God, as typical and preparative, but not as final and ab- 
solute; you are the image of which we are the substance." 

" We know," re})lied the rabbin, " that such are yoiur preten- 
sions; but they are absolutely gratuitous and false. Your system 
turns altogether on mystical meanings, on visionary and allegorical 
interpretations : * with violent distortions on the letter of our books, 
you substitute the most chimerical ideas to the true ones, and find in 
them whatever pleases you, as a wild imagination will find figiu-es in 
the clouds. Tlujs you have made a spiritual Messiah of that which, 
in the spirit of our prophets, is only a temporal king : you have 
made a redemption of the human race out of the simple reestablish- 
ment of our nation ; your conception of the virgin is founded on a 
single phrase, which you have misunderstood. Thus you make from 
our scriptures Avhatever your fancy dictates, you even find there your 
trinity, though there is not the most distant allusion to it, and it is 
an invention of profane writers, admitted into your system with a 
host of other opinions of every religion and of every sect, during the 
anarchy of the three first centuries of your era." 

At these words, the Christian doctors crying sacrilege and blas- 
phemy, sprang forward in a transport of fury to fall upon the Jew. 

* " Your system turns altogether on allegorical interpretations." — 
When we read the Fathers of the church, and see upon what argu- 
ments they have built the edifice of religion, we are inexpressibly as- 
tonished with their credulity or the'lr knavery •, but allegory was the 
lage of that period : the pagans employed it to explain the actions of 
their gods, and the Christians acted in the same spirit when they era- 
ployed it in anotlier manner. It would be interesting to publish now 
Buch books, or only extracts from them 



THE RUINS. . 101 

And a troop of monks in motley dresses of black and white, advanc- 
ed with a standard, on which were painted pincers, gridirons, light- 
ed fagots and the words justice, charity, mercy: " We must," said 
they, "make an example of these impious wretches, and burn them for 
the glory of God. " They began even to prepare the pile, when a Mus- 
sulman answered in a strain of irony : " This then is your religion of 
peace, that meek and beneficent system which you so much extol ! 
This is that evangelical charity which combats infidelity with persua- 
sive mildness, and repays injuries with patience ! Ye hypocrites ! it 
is thus that you deceive mankind ; thus that you propagate yoiu- ac- 
cursed errors I When you were weak, you preached libei"ty, tolera- 
jon, peace; when you are strong, you practise persecution and vio- 
lence." And he was going to begin the history of the Avars and 

slaughters of Christijmity, when the legislator demanding silence, sus- 
pended this scene of discord. 

The monks, aflfecting a tone of meekness and humility, exclaimed, 
** It is not ourselves that we avenge, it is the cause of God, it is his 
glory that we defend." 

*' And what right have you, more than we," said the Imams, " to 
constitute yourselves the representatives of God 1 Have you privi- 
leges that we have not 1 Are you not men like us V 

" To defend God," said another group, " to pretend to avenge him 
is to insult his wisdom and his power. Does he not know tetter 
than men what befits his dignity V* 

" Yes," replied the monks, " but his ways are secret." 

" And it remains for you to prove," said the rabbins, " that you 
have the exclusive privilege of understanding them." Then, proud 
of finding supporters to their cause, the Jews thought that their law 
would be triumphant, when the mobed (high priest) of the Parses 
obtained leave to speak : 

'* We have heard," said he, " the account of the Jews and Chris- 
tians of the origin of the world ; and, though greatly mutilated, we 
find in it some facts which we admit ; but we deny that they are 
to be attributed to their prophet Moses, first because it cannot be 
shown that the books which bear his name were really his ; we can 
prove on the contrary, by twenty positive passages, that they were 
written at least six centuries later, and proceed evidently from the 
connivance of a high priest and a king, both well known ; * next if 

♦See on this subject the 1st vol. of New Researches on ancient History, 
where this question is fundamentally investigated after chapter V 
.9* 



102 THE RUINS. 

you examine attentively tlie laws, tlie ceremoniea, the precepts estab- 
lished by Moses in those books, you will not find the sliglitest indi- 
cation, either expressed or understood, of what constitutes tlie bases 
of die present theological doctrine of the Jews and of their children 
tlie Christians. You nowhere find tlie least trace of the immortal- 
ity of the soul, or of a future life, or of heaven or of hell, or of thfe 
revolt of the principal angel, author of the evils of die human race, etc. 

" These ideas were not known to Moses, and the reason is very 
obvious, since it was not till two centuries afterwards that our prophet 
Zerdoust, named Zoroaster, first evangelized them in Asia. Thus, 
added the mobed, turning to the rabbins, it is not til! after that epoch, 
that is to say, in the time of your first kings, that these ideas begin 
to appear in your writers ; and then their appearance is obscure and 
gradual, according to tlie progress of the political relations between 
your ancestors and ours. It was especially when, having been con- 
quered by the kings of Nineveh and Babylon, and transported to the 
banks of the Tygris and Euphrates, they resided there for three suc- 
cessive generations, that they imbibed manners and opinions which 
had been rejected as contrary to their law. When our king Cyrus 
had delivered them from slavery, they became our disciples and imi- 
tators;* the most distinguished families, whom the kings of Babylon 
had got instructed in the Chaldean sciences, carried back to Jerusa- 
lem new ideas and foreign tenets. 

"At first the mass of die people, who had not emigrated, pleaded 
the text of the law and the absolute silence of the prophet j but the 
Pharisean or Parsee doctrine prevailed ; and, being modified accord- 
ing to the ideas and genius of your nation, gave rise to a new sect. 
You expected a king to restore your political independence; we 
announced a God to regenerate and save mankind : from this combi- 
nation of ideas, your Essenians laid the foundation of Christianity : 
and whatever your pretensions may be, Jews, Cliristians, Mussnlraen, 
you are, in your systems of spiritual beings, only the blundering fol- 
lowers of Zoroaster !" 

The mobed, then passing on to the details of his religion, quoting 
from die Sad-der and die Zend-Avesta, recounted, in the same order 

* " They became ouj disciples and imitators."— See on this subject the 
1st. vol. of New Researches on ancient History, where it is proved that 
the Pentateuch is not the work of Moses : this opinion prevailed in the 
firSt ages of Christianity, as may be seen in the Clementines, homily 11, 
^ 51, and homily 8, ^ 42 ; but no one liad proved that the true author was 
the high-priest Hilkiah, in the year 621 before J. 0. * 



THE RUINS. 103 

as Genesis, the creation of the world in six gahans ; tlie formation 
of a first man and a first woman in a divine place, under the reign of 
good; the introduction of evil into the world by the great snake, em- 
blem of Ahi-imanes : the revolt and battles of the Genius of evil and 
darkness against Ormuzd, God of good and light : the division of the 
angels into white and black, or good and bad ; their hierarchal orders, 
cherubim, seraphim, thrones, dominions, etc. ; the end of the world 
at tlie close of six thousand years ; the coming of the lamb the regen- 
erator of nature ; the new world ; the future life, and the region" of 
happiness and misery; the passage of souls over the bridge of the 
bottomless pit ; the celebration of the mysteries of Mythras ; the un- 
leavened bread which the initiated eat; the baptism of new born 
children; the unction of the dead, the confession of sins; and in a 
word, he recited so many things analogous to the three religions be- 
fore mentioned,* that it seemed like a commentary or a continuation 
of tlie Coran and the Apocalypse. 

But tlie Jewish, Christian and Mahometan doctors, cr}-ing out 
against this recital, and treating the Parses as idolaters and worship- 
pers of fire, charged them with falsehood, interpolations, falsification 
of facts ; and there arose a violent dispute as to the dates of tlie events, 
their order and succession, the origin of/the doctrines, their transmis- 
sion from nation to nation, the authenticity of the books that estab- 
lished them, the epoch of their composition, the character of their 
compilers, and the validity of tlieir testimony : and the various parties, 
pointing out reciprocal contradictions, improbabilities and forgeries, 
accused each other of having established this belief on popular rumors, 

* " So many things analogous to the three retigions." — The modern 
Parses and the ancient Mithriacs, who are the same sect, observe all the 
Christian sacraments, even the laying on of hands in confirmation. 
' 'J'he priest of Mithra,' saj's Tertullian, de Proescriptione, c. 40, 'promises 
absolution from sin on confession and baptism ; and, if 1 rightly remem- 
ber, Mithra marks his soldiers in the forehead (with the chrism, the 
Egyptian Kouphi ;) he celebrates the sacrifice of bread, which is the re- 
Burrection, and presents the crown to his followers, menacing them at 
the same time with the sword, etc' 

In these mysteries they tried the courage of the initiated with a thou- 
sand terrors, presenting fire to his face, a sword to his breast, etc.; they 
also offered him a crown which he refused, saying : God is my crown : 
and this crown is to be seen in the celestial sphere by the side of Bootes. 
The personafje^ in these mysteries were distinguished by the names 
of the animal constellations. The ceremony of mass is nothing more 
than an imitation of these mysteries and of those'of Eleusis. The bene- 
diction, the Lord be with you, is a literal translation of the formule 
of admission chon-k, am, p-ak. See Beausobre, histoire du Manicheis- 
me, vol. fl. 



104 THE RUINS. 

vagiie traditions and absurd fables, invented without discernment, 
and admitted without examination by unknown, ignorant or partial 
writers, and at false or uncertain epochs. 

A great murmur now arose from under the standards of the various 
Indian sects ; and the Bramins, protesting against the pretensions of 
the Jews and Parses, said; " What are these new and almost unheard 
of nations, who ari'ogantly set themselves up as the sources of the 
human race, and the depositaries of its archives 1 To hear their cal- 
culations of five or six tliousand years, it would seem that the world 
was of yesterday, whereas our monuments prove a duration of many 
thousands of centuries. And for what reason ai-e their books to be 
preferred to ours 1 Are then the Vedas,* Chastras, and Pourans in- 
terior to the Bibles, Zend-avestas, and Sad-ders '? And is not the 
testimony of our fathers and our Gods as valid as that of the fathers 
and the Gods of the Occidentals 1 Ah I if it were permitted to reveal 
our mysteries to profane men ! if a sacred veil did not justly conceal 
them from eveiy eye ! — " 

The Bramins stopping short at these words : " How can we admit 
your doctrine," said the legislator, " if you will not make it known 1 
And how did its first authors propagate it, when being alone posses- 
sed of it, their own people were to them profane 1 Did heaven reveal 
it to be kept a secret "? " 

But the Bramins persisting in their silence : " Let them have the 
honor of the secret," said an European. " Their doctrine is now 
divulged : we possess their books ; and I can give you the substance 
of them." 

Then beginning with an abstract of the four Vedas, the eighteen 
Pourans and the five or six Chastras, he recounted how a being, infi- 

* The Vedas or Vedams are the sacred volumes of the Hindoos, as 
the Bibles with us. They are three in number : the Rick Veda, the Yad- 
jour Veda, and the Sama Veda ; they are so scarce in India, that the 
English could with great difficulty find an original one, of which a copy 
is deposited in the British Museum ; they who reckon four Vedas, in- 
clude among them the Attar Veda, concerning ceremonies, but which 
is lost. There are besides commentaries named Upanishada, one of which 
was published by Anquetil du Peron, and entitled Oupnekhat, a curious 
work. The date of these books is more than twenty-five centuries prior to 
our era ; their contents prove that all the reveries of the Greek metaphysi- 
cians come from India and Egypt. — Since the year 1788, the learned men 
of England are working in India a mine of literature totally unknown 
in Europe, and which proves that the civilisation of India ascends to a 
very remote antiquity. After the Vedas come the Chastras amounting 
to six. They treat of theology and the Sciences. Afterwards 18 Poura- 
nas, treating of Mythology and History : See the Bahgouet-guita, the 
Baga Vadam, and the Ezour-Vedam, etc 



THE RUINS. 105 

nite, eternal, immaterial and roimd, after having passed an eternity 
in self-contemplation, and determining at last to manifest himself, 
separated the male and female faculties which were in him, and per- 
formed an act of generation, of which the Lingam remains an emblem j 
how tliat first act gave birth to three divine powers, Bralima, Bichen 
or Vichenou, and Chib or Chiven, whose functions were, the first to 
create, the second to preserve, and the tliird to destroy or change the 
form of tlie universe : then, detailing the history of their operations 
and adventures, he explained how Brahma, proud of having created 
the world and the eight spheres of purifications, thought himself su- 
perior to Chib, his equal ; how this pride brought on a battle between 
them, in which the celestial globes, or orbits, were crushed like a 
basket of eggs ; how Brahma, vanquished in this conflict, was reduc- 
ed to serve as a pedestal to Chib, metamorphosed into a Lingam ; 
how Vichenou, the God mediator, has assumed at diflerent times, to 
preserve the world, nine mortal forms of animals ; how first, in shape 
of a fish, he saved from the universal deluge a family who repeopled 
the eartli ; how afterwards, in form of a tortoise, he drew from the 
milky sea the mountain Mandreguiri (the pole :) theo, becoming a 
boar, he tore the belly of the giant Erenniachessen, who was drown- 
ing the earth in the abyss of Djole, and saved it on his tusks; how 
becoming incarnate in a black shepherd, and under the i lame of Chris- 
en, he delivered the world of tlie venomous serpent ( 'alengam, and 
then crushed his head, after having been wounded by him in the heel 
Then passing on to the history of tlie secondary genii, he related 
how the Eternal, to manifest his glory, created various orders of an- 
gels, who were to sing his praises and to direct the imiverse; how a 
part of these angels revolted under the guidance of an ambitious chief, 
who strove to usurp the power of God, and to govern all ; how God 
plunged them into a world of darkness, there to undergo the punish- 
ment of dieir crimes; how at last, touched with compassion, he 
consented to release them, and receive them into favor, after they 
should undergo a long series of probations ; how, after creating for 
this purpose, fifteen orbits or regions of planets, and peopling thera 
with bodies, he ordered these rebel angels to undergo in them eighty- 
seven transmigrations ; he then explained how souls, thus purified, 
returned to the first source, to the ocean of life and animation from 
which they had proceeded; and since all living creatures contain 
portions of this universal soul, he taught how criminal it was to de- 
Dfive-them of it. He was finally proceeding to explain tlie rites and 



106 THE RUINS. 

ceremonies, when speaking of offerings and libations of milk and 
butter to gods of copper and wood, and then of purifications by the 
dung and ui-ine of cows, there arose an universal murmur, mixed 
with peals of laughter, which interrupted the orator. 

Each of the difTerent groups began to reason on that religion : 
" They are idolaters," said the Mussulmen, " and should be extermi- 
nated." ' They are deranged in their intellect, " said the followers of 
Confucius, " we should tiy to ciu-e them." " What ridiculous gods," 
said others, " are these puppets, besmeared with grease and smoke, 
that must be washed like dirty children, and from whom you must 
brush away the flies, attracted by honey, and fouling them with tlieir 
excrements !" 

But a Bramin exclaimed with indignation : " These are profound 
mysteries, emblems of trudi which you are not wordiy to hear." 

" And in what respect are you more worthy than we," exclaimed 
a lama of Tibet. " Is it because you pretend to be issued from the 
head of Braina,* and the rest of the human race from the less noble 
parts of his body "? But to support die pride of your distinctions of 
origin and casts, prove to us in the first place that you are different 
from otlier men. Establish in the next place, as historical facts, tlie 
allegories which you relate, show us indeed that you are the authors 
of all this doctrine ; for we will demonstrate, if necessary, that you 
have only stolen and disfigured it j that you are only the imitators of 
the ancient paganism of the Occidentals ; to which, by an ill assort- 
ed mixture, you have allied the pure and spiritual doctrine of our 
God ; a doctrine totally detached from the senses, and entirely un- 
known on earth, till Boudh taught it to die nations." 

A number of groups having inquired what was this doctrine, and 

* All this cosmogony of the Lamas, the Bonzes, and even the bra- 
mins, as Henry Lord asserts, is literally that of the ancient Egyptians. 
' The Egyptians,' says Porphyry, 'call Kneph, the intelligence or efficient 
cause (of the universe.) They relate that this God vomited an egg, 
from which was produced another God, named Phtha or Vulcan (igneous 
principle or the Sun,) and they add, that this egg is the world.' Euseb. 
Proep. Evang. p. 115. 

' They represent,' says the same autlior in another place, ' the god 
Kneph, or efficient cause, under the form of a man in deep blue (the 
color of the sky,) having in his hand a sceptre, a belt round his body, 
and a small bonnet royal of light feathei-s on his head, to denote how 
very subtle and fugacious the idea of that being is.' Upon which 1 
shall observe that Kneph in Hebrew signifies a wing, a feather, and 
that this color of sky blue is to be found in the majority of the Indian 
gods, and k, under the name of narayan, one of their most distinguished 
epithets. 



THE RUINS. 107 

who was this God, whose name the greater part of them had never 
heard, the lama resutned and said : 

" In die beginniHg, a sole and self-existent God, having passed an 
eternity in tlie contemplation of his own being, resolved to manifest 
his perfections out of himself, and created tlie matter of the world ; 
the four elements being produced, but still in a state of confusion, he 
breathed on the face of the waters, which swelled like an immense 
bubble in form of an egg, which unfolding, became tlie vault or orb 
of heaven enclosing the world; having made the eartli, and the 
bodies of animals, this God, essence of motion, imparted to them a 
portion of his own being to animate them ; for this reason, the soul 
of everything that breathes being a fraction of the universal soul, no 
one of them can perish, they only change their form and mould ' in 
passing successively into different bodies : of aH these forms, the one 
most pleasing to God is that of man, as most resembling his own 
perfections ; when a man, by an absolute disengagement from his 
senses, is wholly absorbed in self- contemplation, he then discovers 
the divinity and becomes himself god : of all the incarnations of this 
kind that God has hitherto taken, the greatest and most solemn was 
that in which he appeared twenty-eight centuries ago in Kachemire, 
under the name of Fot or Boudh, to preach the doctrine of self-deni- 
al, and self-annihilation." Then, pursuing the history of Fot, the 
lama said ; " He was born from the right flank of a virgin of royal 
blood, who did not cease to be a virgin for having become a mother; 
that the king of the country, alarmed at his birth, wished to destroy 
him, and for this purpose ordered a massacre of all the males born 
at that period; that being saved by shepherds, Boudh lived in the 
desert till the age of thirty, when he began his mission, to enlighten 
men and cast out devils ; that he performed a multitude of tlie most 
astonishing miracles; tliat he spent his life in fasting and severe 
penitence, and at his death, beciueathed to his disciples a book which 
contained his doctrines ;" and the lama began to read.... 

" ' He that leaveth his father and modier to follow me,' says Fot, 
* becomes a perfect samanean (heavenly man;) 

"•■ * He that practises my precepts to the fourth degree of perfec- 
tion, acquires the faculty of flying in the air, of moving heaven and 
earth, of prolonging and shortening life (rising from the dead.) 

*' ' The samenean despises riches, an'), uses only what is strictly 
necessary ; he mortifies his body ; silences !iis passions ; desires noth- 



lOd THE RUINS. 

ing ; forms no attachments ; meditates my doctrines without ceasing ; 
endures injuries with patience, and bears no malice to his neighbour. 

" * Heaven and earth shall perish,' says Fot : * despise therefore 
your- bodies composed of the four perishable elements, and think only 
of your immortal soul. 

" ' Listen not to the flesh : fear and sorrow spring from tlie passions : 
stifle the passions, and you destroy fear and sorrow. 

" ' Whoever dies without having embraced my religion,* says Fot, 
'returns among men until he embraces it.' " 

The lama was proceeding, when the Christians, interrupting him, 
exclaimed that this was their own religion adulterated ; that Fot 
was no other than Jesus himself disfigured, and that the lamas were 
the Nestorians and Manicheans disguised and bastardized.* 

But the lama, supported by the chamans, bonzes, gonnis, talapoins 
of Siam, of Ceylon, of Japan, and of China, proved to the Chris- 
tians, even from their own authors, that the doctrine of the Samane- 
ans was diffused through the East more than a thousand years before 
the Christian era ; that their name was cited before the time of Al- 

*"The Lamas were Manicheans disguised." — See the History of 
Manicheism, by Beausobre, who proves that tliese sectaries were pure 
Zoroastrians ; which makes tlie existence of their opinions to .precede 
J. C. by 1200 years. It follows from hence that Boudd Chaucasam was 
still more ancient, since the Boudite doctrine is found in the oldest In- 
dian books, that preceded our era by 3100 years (such as Bahgouet Guita.) 
Observe moreover that Boudd is the 9th avatar or incarnation of Viche- 
nou which places him at the origin of this theology. Further, among 
the Indians, Chinese, Tibetans, etc. Boudd is the name of the planet 
we call Mercury, and of the day of the week consecrated to that planet 
(Wednesday ;) this carries him back to the origin of the calendar ; at the 
same time that it shows him to have been primitively identical with 
Hermes : his existence therefore extended to Egypt : now observe that 
the Egyptian priests make Hermes at his death to say : ' I have hitherto 
lived banished from my true country •, I now go back there : do not 
weep for me : I return to the celestial country whither every one goes 
in his turn ; there dwells God ; this life is but death.' See Chalcidius 
in Timceum. Now, this doctrine is precisely that of the ancient Bou- 
ditM, or Samaneans, of the Pythagoricians and of the Orphies : in th^ 
doctrine of Orpheus, the god world is represented by an egg : in the 
Hfibrew and Arabian idioms, the egg is called baidh, analogous to Boudd 
(Ood,) and to Boud, in Persian, existence, what is (the world.) Boudd 
is *!so analogous to bed vad, signifying amongst the Indians, science. 
Hermes was its god : he was the author of the sacred books or Egyptian 
Vedas, AVhat ramifications, and what a remote antiquity does not all 
this suppose : now the Boudite priest of Ava adds : ' It is an article 
of faith that from time to time heaven sends upon earth some Bouddas 
to reclaim men, to save them from vice, and show them the ways of saj- 
vation.' With such a dogma extending over India, Persia, Egypt and 
Judea, it is no wonder that men's minds should be prepared long before 
hand for what latter ages offer to our view. 



THE RUINS. 109 

exander, and that Boutta or Boudh was known long before Jesus.* 
Then, retorting the pretensions of the Christians against themselves : 
" Prove to us now," said the lama, " that you are not yourselvea 
degenerate Samaneans : and that the man whom you make the au- 
thor of your sect is not Fot himself disfigured. Prove to us by his- 
torical facts that he even existed at the epoch you pretend ; for it 
being destitute of authentic testimony ,f we abs(*lutely deny it j and 

* " Long before lesous."— According to the English Orientalists, the 
doctrine of Boudda is very ancient in India. The anonymous writei 
mentioned page 228, line 51, cites a Treatise written a few years ago by 
the chief of the Boudite priests of Ava, at the request of the catholic 
bishop of that city, stating : ' That the Gods, who have appeared in 
this world until the present day, are four in numbe", to wit : Boudda 
Chaucasam, Boudda Gonagoni, Boudda Gaspa, and Boudda Gautama, 
whose law is now in vigor ; he obtained divinity at the age of 35, and 
spent in immortality 2362 years (before the date of the writing, about the 
year 1805.) ' Consequently Gautama died about 557 years" before the 
Christian era, at the time when Cyrus reigned in Persia, and when 
Pythagoras flourished. 

2dly. On the other hand, Arabian and Persian writers, cited in the 
history of the Huns, vol. II. by de Guignes ; in the Hist, of China, vol. 
5. in 4to. note to page 50, and in the preface to the Ezour-Vedam (Yad- 
jour-Veda,) place the apparition of another Boudda in the year 1027 
before our era (it must be Gaspa.) 

3dly. The statistical Table of the Mogul emperor Akbar ; entitled Ain 
Akberi, translated by Gladwin, says, page 433, vol. II. that Boudd dis- 
appeared a962 years before the 40th of that emperor, that is to say 1366 
years before J, C. (This must be Gonagom.) 

t " Being destitute of authentic testimony."— 'AH the world knows,' 
s^ys Faustus, who though a manichean, was one of the most learned 
men of the third century, ' all the world knows that the gospels were 
neither written by Jesus Clirist, nor his apostles, but a long time after, 
by unknown persons, who rightly judging that they should not obtain 
belief respecting things which they had not seen, placed at the head of 
their recitals the names of contemporary apostles.' Consult upon thJa 
question, Histoire des Apologistes de la Religion chretienne, attributed 
to Freret, but which was written by Burigny, member of the academy 
of Inscriptions. See also Mosheim, de Rebus christianorura ; Correspon- 
dence of Atterbury, archbishop, 5 vote, in 8vo., 1798 : Toland Nazare- 
nus J and Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, vol. I. From all that 
has been written for and against it results, that the precise origin of 
Christianity is unknown ; that the pretended testimonies of Josephus 
(Antiq. Jud. lib. xvni, c. 3) and of Tacitus (Annals, b. xv. c. 44,) have 
been interpolated about the time of tlie council of Nice, and that nobody 
could ever demonstrate the radical fact, that is to say, the real existence 
of the personage who gave rise to the system . Without that existence 
however, it would be difficult to conceive tht appearance of the system 
at Us known epoch, although history offers many examples of gratui- 
tous and absolute suppositions. To resolve this truly curious and im- 
portant problem, some man of sagacity, instruction, and above all 
impartiality, benefiting by the researches already made, should form a 
comparative table of the doctrine of the Boudites, and specially of the 
sect of Samana Gautama, contemporary with Cyrus ; he should examine 
what was the facility of communication of India with Persia and Syria, 
particularly after the reign cf Darius HJ^t8sp?s, who, aocording to 
10 



110 THE RUINS. 

we maintain that your very gospels are only the book of some M h- 
riacs of Persia, and Essenians of Syria, who were a branch of re- 
formed Samaneans." 

At these words, the Christians set up a general cry, and a new 
dispute was going to begin, when a number of Chinese chamans and 
talapoins of Siam, came forward, and said that they would settle the 
whole controversy. And one of them speaking for the whole : " It 
is time," said he, " to put an end to these frivolous contests by 
drawing aside the veil from tlie interior doctrine* that Fot himself 
revealed to his disciples on his death-bed." 

" All these theological opinions," said he, " are but chimeras; all 
tlie stories of the nature of the gods, of their actions and lives, are 
but allegories and mythological emblems, under which are enveloped 
ingenious ideas of morals, and the knowledge of die operations of 
nature in the action of the elements and the movement of the planets. 

" The truth is that all is reduced to nothing ; that all is illusion, 

Agathius and Ammianus, consulted the wise men of India, and intro- 
duced several of their ideas among the magi : further, what facility ther6 
was after Alexander's time, under the Seleucidoe, who kept up diplo- 
matical relations with the Indian kings ; he would see that, through 
these communications, the system of the Samaneans might have gradu- 
ally extended as far as Egypt 5 that it might have been the determining 
cause of the corporation of the Essenians in Jiidea, etc. ; the only ques- 
tion then would be if, when all was thus prepared, the general exalta- 
tion of nien's minds might not have prompted an individual to fill the 
allotted part ; either because he declared and believed himself to be the 
personage announced, or because the multitxule, enchanted with his 
conduct, doctrin* and preaching, attributed to him that character. In 
either cas«, it is extremely probable that popular disturbances excited 
the suspicions and vigilance of the Roman government, and that at 
length some remarkable incident, such as the entrance into Jerusalem, 
forced the prefect to adopt a measure of rigor, an act of severity, that 
suddenly put an end to the drama (nearly as related,) but which only 
augmented the interest which the regretted personage inspired, and, by 
that means, gave rise to narrations and associations the result of which 
would perfectly agree with the state of things afterwards seen in history. 
Doubtless where her positive testimony is wanting there no moral cer- 
tainty can exist ; but by the concatenation of causes and effects, a degree 
of probability producing the same effect may be attained ; since even 
with the most positive testimonies, history can only pretend to a greater 
or lesser degree of probability. 

* "The interior doctrine." — The Bouddites have two doctrines, the 
one public and ostensible, the other interior and secret, precisely like 
the Egyptian priests. It may be asked, why this distinction ? Because, 
as the public doctrine recommends offerings, expiations, endowments, 
etc., the priests find their profit in preaching it to the people ; whereas 
the other, teaching the vanity of worldly things and being attended 
with no lucre, it is thought proper to make it known only to adepts. 
Thus are men divided into the two evidently distinct classes of knaves 
Jind dupes ! 



THE RUINS. HI 

appearance, dream ; that the moral meteaipsychosis is only the figu- 
rative sense of the physical metempsychosis, or the successive move- 
ment by which the elements of the same body perisix not, but at its 
dissolution, pass into other mediums and form other combinations. 
The soul is but the vital principle which results from the properties 
of matter and from the action of the elements in those bodies where 
they create a spontaneous movement. To suppose that this product 
of the play of the organs, born widi them, matured widi tliem, and 
which sleeps with them, can subsist when diey cease, is the romance 
of a wandei'ing imagination, perhaps agreeable but absolutely chi- 
merical. God itself is nothing more than the moving principle, the 
occult force inherent in all beings ; the sum of their laws and pro- 
perties; the animating princij^le, in a word, the soul of the universe; 
which on account of the infinite variety of its connexions and opera- 
tions, spmetimes simple, sometimes multiple, sometimes active, 
sometimes passive, has ' always presented to the human mind an 
insolvable enigma. All that man can comprehend with certainty is, 
that matter does not perish ; that it possesses essentially those pro- 
perties by which the world is held together like a living and organ- 
ized being; that the knowledge of these*laws, with respect to man, 
is what constitutes wisdom ; that virtue and merit consist in their 
observance; and evil, sin, and vice, in the ignorance and violation 
of them ; that happiness and misery result from these by the same 
necessity which makes heavy bodies descend, and light ones rise by 
a fatality of causes and effects, whose chain extends from the smallest 
atom to the greatest of tlie heavenly bodies. All this was revealed 
on his death-bed by our Boudah Somona Goutama."* 

At these words, a crowd of theologians of every sect cried out 
that this doctrine was materialism ; and those Ayho profess it were 
impious atheists, enemies to God and man, who must be extermina- 
ted. — " Very well ! " replied the Chamans, " suppose we are in an 
error, which is not impossible, since the first attribute of the liuman 
mind is to be subject to illusion; but what right have you to take 
away from men like yourselves', the life which heaven has given 
them 1 If heaven holds us guilty, and in abhorrence, why does it 

* " This was revealed by our Boudah."— Tliese are the very expres- 
sions of La Louberc, in his description of the khigdoni of Siam and of 
the theology of the Bonzes. Their dogmas, compared with those of the 
ancient philosophers of Greece and Italy, give a complete representation 
of the whole system of the Stoics and Epicureans, mixed with astrologi- 
eal superstitions and some traits of Pythagorism. 



112 THE RUINS. 

impart to us the same blessings as to you 1 And if it tolerates as, 
what right have you to be less indulgent 1 Pious men ! who speak, of 
God with so much certainty and confidence, please to tell us what it 
is ; give us to comprehend what these abstract metaphysical beings 
are, which you call God and soul, substance without matter, exist- 
ence without body, life without organs or sensation. If you know 
those beings by your senses or their reflections, render them in like 
manner perceptible to us : or if you speak of them on testimony and 
tradition, show us an uniform account, and give a determinate basis 
to our creed." There now arose among the theologians a great con- 
troversy respecting God and his nature : his manner of acting and 
of manifesting himself j on the nature of the soul and its union with 
the body; whether it exists before the organs, or only after they are 
formed : on the future life and the other world : and every sect, every 
school, every individual, differing on all these points, and each as- 
signing plausible reasons, and respectable though opposite authori- 
ties, for his opinion, they fell into an inextricable labyrinth of 
contradictions. 

Then the legislator having commanded silence and recalled the 
dispute to its true object, said : " Chiefs and instructers of tlie peo- 
ple, you came together in search of truth ; at first, every one of you, 
thinking he possessed it, demanded of the others an implicit faith ; 
but receiving the contrariety of your opinions, you found it necessary 
to submit them to a common rule of evidence, and to bring them to 
one general terra of comparison ; and you agreed that each should 
exhibit the proofs of his doctrine. You began by alleging facts j 
but each religion and every sect, being equally furnished with mira- 
cles and martyrs, each producing an equal cloud of witnesses, and 
offering to support them by a voluntary death, the balance on this 
first point, by right of parity, remained (*qual. 

" You then passed to the trial of reasoning ; but tlie same argu 
ments applying equally to contrary positions ; the same assertions, 
equally gratuitous, being advanced and repelled with equal force, 
and all having an equal right to refuse assent, nothing was demon- 
strated. What is more, the confrontation of your systems has brought 
up new and extraordinary difficulties ; for amidst the apparent or 
adventitious diversities, you have discovered a fundamental resem- 
blance, a common groundwork ; and each of you pretending to be 
tlie inventor, and first depositary, you have taxed each other with 
adulterations and plagiarisms; and thence arises a difficult que»- 



THE RUIxXS. 113 

tion concerning the transmission of religious ideas^from people to 
people. 

" Finally to repeat tlie embarrassment, when you endeavoured to 
explain your doctrines to -each other, they appeared confused and 
foreign, even to tlieir adherents; tliey were founded on ideas in- 
accessible to your senses ; of consequence you had no means of 
judging of tliem, and yon confessed yourselves in this respect to be 
only the echoes of your fathers : hence follows this other question, 
how came diey to the knowledge of your fatliers, who themselves 
had no other means than you to concieve them : so that, on the one 
hand, the succession of these ideas being unknown, and on the other, 
their origin and existence being a mysteiy, all the edifice of your re- 
ligious opinions beconnies a complicated problem of metaphysics and 
history. — 

" Since however these opinions, extraordinary as they may be, 
must have had some origin ; since even the most abstract and fan- 
tastical ideas have some physical model, it may he useful to recur to 
this origin, and discover this model; in a word, to find out from 
what source the human understanding has drawn these ideas, at pre- 
sent so obscure of the divinity, the soul, and all immaterial bemgs 
which make the basis of so many systems ; to unfold the filiation 
which they have followed and the alterations which tliey have under- 
gone in their transmissions and ramifications. If then there are any 
persons present who have made a study of these objects, let them 
come forward, and endeavour, in the face of nations, to dissipate die 
obscurity In which their opinions have so long strayed." 



CHAPTER XXII. 



ORIGIN AND FILIATION OF RELIGIOUS IDEAS. 

At these words, a new group, formed in an instant by men from 
various standards, but not distinguished by any, cassie forward in 
the circle ; and one of them spoke in the name of the whole. 

" Legislator, friend of evidence and truth I it is not astonishing 
that the subject in question should be enveloioed in so many clouds, 
10* 



114 THE RUINS. 

since, besitfes its inherent difficulties, thought itself has uhvays been 
encumbered with superadded obstacles peculiar to this study, where 
all free enquiry and discussion have been interdicted by the intoler- 
ance of every system ; but now that oifr views are permitted to 
expand, Ave will expose to open day, and submit to the judgment 
of nations, that which unprejudiced minds after long researches have 
found to be the most reasonable ; and we do t'his, not with the pre- 
tension of imposing a new creed, but with the hope of provoking new 
lights, and obtaining better information. 

" Doctors and instructers of nations I You know what thick 
darkness covers the nature, the origin, the history of the dogmas 
which you teach : imposed by force and autliority, inculcated by 
education, and maintained by example, they pass from age to age, 
and strengthen their empire from habit and inattention. But if man, 
enlightened by reflection and experience, brings to mature examina- 
tion the prejudices of his childhood, he soon discovers a multitude of 
incongruities and contradictions AVhich awakeh his sagacity and ex- 
cite his reasoning powers. 

" At first, remarking the diversity and opposition of the creeds 
which divide the nations, he rejects the infallibility which each of 
them claims ; and arming himself with their reciprocal pretensions, 
he conceives that his senses and his reason derived immediately from 
God, are a law not less holy, a guide not less sure than tlie mediate 
and contradictory codes of the prophets, 

"If he then examines the texture of these codes themselves, he 
observes that their laws, pretended to be divine, that is, immutable 
and eternal, have arisen from circumstances of times, places and 
persons ; that they have issued, one from the other, in a kind of ge- 
nealogical order, borrowing from each other reciprocally a common 
and similar fund of ideas, which every lawgiver modifies according 
to his fancy. 

" If he ascends to the source of these ideas, he finds it involved in 
the night of time,\in the infancy of nations, even in fhe origin of the 
world, to which they claim alliance;; and there, placed in the dark- 
ness of chaos, in the empire of fables and traditions, they present 
themselves accompanied with a state of things so full of prodigies, 
that it seems to forbid all access to the judgment ; but this state it- 
eelf excites a first effort of reason, which resolves the difficulty; for 
if the prodigies, found in the theological systems, have really existed . 
if, for instarace, the metamorphosis, the apparitions, the conversations 



THE RUINS. 115 

witli one or many gods recorded in die sacred books of the Indians, 
tJie Hebrews, the Parses, are historical events, he must agree that 
nature in those times was totally different from what it is at present; 
that the present race of men are quite another species from those 
who tlien existed, and, therefore, he ought not to trouble his head 
about them 

" If, on tlie contrary, these miraculous events have really not ex 
isted in the physical order of things, then he readily conceives that 
they are creatures of the human intellect ; and this faculty being still 
capable of the most fantastical combinations, explains at once the 
phenomenon of these monsters in history ; it only remains then to 
find how and wherefore they have been formed in the imagination : 
now, if we examine with care the subjects of these intellectual crea- 
tions, analyze the ideas which they combine and associate, and 
attentively weigh all the Circumstances which they allege, we shall 
find that this first obscure and incredible state of things is explained 
Ity the laws of natwe ; we find that these stories of a fabulous kind 
have a figurative sense different from the apparent one; that tliese 
events, pretended to be marvellous, are simple and physical facts, 
which being misconceived or misrepresented, have been disfigured by 
accidental causes dependent on the human mind ; by the confusion of 
signs employed to paint die ideas ; the want of precision in words, 
permanence in language, and perfection in writing ; we find that these 
gods, for instance, who display such singular characters in every sys- 
tem, are only the physical agents of nature, the elements, the winds, 
the stars and the meteors, which have been personified by the neces- 
sary mechanism of language and of the human understanding ; that 
their lives, their manners, their actions, are only their mechanical 
operations and connexions ; and that all their pretended history is only 
the description of diese phenomena, formed by the first naturalists 
who observed them, and misconceived by the vulgar who did not un- 
derstand them, or by succeeding generations, who forgot them. In a 
word, all the theological dogmas on the origin of the world, the na- 
ture of God, the revelation of his laws, the manifestation of his person, 
are known to be only the recital of astronomical facts, only figurative 
and emblematical accounts of the motion of the heavenly bodies ; we 
are convinced diat the very idea of a God, that idea at present so 
obscure, is, in its first origin, nothing but that of the physical powers 
of the universe, considered sometimes as a plurality by reason of their 
agencies and phenomena, sometimes as one simple and only bqing by 



116 THE RUINS. 

reason of the universality of the machine and the connexion of its 
pai'ts ; so that the being called God has been sometimes the wind, the 
fire, the water, all the elements ; sometimes the sun, the stars, the 
planets, and their influence; sometimes the matter of tlie visible 
world, the totality of the universe ; sometimes abstract and metaphy- 
sical qualities, such as space, duration, motion and intelligence ; and 
we everywhere see this conclusion, that the idea of God has not been 
a miraculous revelation of invisible beings, but a natural offspring of 
tlie numan intellect, an operation of tlie mind, whose progress it has 
followed and whose revolutions it has undergone, in all tlie knowledge 
it has acquired of the physical world and its agents. 

" It is then in vain tliat nations attribute their religion to heavenly 
inspirations, it is in vain that their dogmas pretend to a primeval 
state of supernatural events : the original barbarity of the human race,* 
attested by their own monuments, belies these assertions at once, but 
there is one constant and indubitable fact which refutes beyond con- 
tradiction all these doubtful accounts of past ages. From this position, 
that man acquires and receives no ideas but tlirough the medium of 
his senses,! it follows with certainty that every notion which pretends 
to any other origin tlian that of sensation and experience, is the erro- 
neous supposition of a posterior reasoning ; now, it is sufficient to cast 
an eye upon the sacred systems of the origin of tlie world, and of the 
actions of the gods, to discover in every idea, in every word, the an- 
tioipation of an order of things which could not exist till a long time 
after. Reason, strengthened by these contradictions, rejecting every- 
thing that is not in the order of nature, and admitting no historical 
facts but those founded on probabilities, lays open its own system, 
and pronounces itself with assurance : 

" Before one nation had received from another nation dogmas al- 
ready invented ; before one generation had inlierited ideas acquired 
by a preceding generation, none of these complicated systems could 
have existed in the world. The first men, being children of nature, 
anterior to all events, ignorant of all science, were born without any 

* " The original barbarity of the human race." — It is the unanimous 
testimony of history and even of legends, that the first human beingg 
were everywhere savages, and that it was to civilize them and teach 
them to make bread, that the gods manifested themselves. 

t" Receives no ideas but through the medium of his senses." — The 
rock on which the ancients split, and which has occasioned all their er- 
rors, has been the supposing the idea of God innate, and co-eternal with 
the soul ; and hence all the reveries developed in Plato and Janiblicus. 
See the ITmcEus, the f hedon, and de Mysteriis iEgyptiorum, sect I, c. 3. 



THE RUINS. 117 

idea of die dogmas arising from scholastic disputes ; of rights found- 
ed on the practice of arts not then known ; of precepts framed after 
the developement of passions ; of laws which suppose a language, a 
state of society not tlien in being, of God, whose attributes all refer 
to physical objects, and his actions to a despotic state of govern- 
ment ; or of tlie soul, or of any of those metaphysical beings, which 
we are told, are not the objects of sense, and for which however, 
there can be no other means of access to the understanding. To ar- 
rive at so many results, the necessary circle of preceding facts must 
have been observed ; slow experience and repeated trials must have 
taught the rude man the use of his organs ; the accumulated observa- 
tions fflf successive generations must have invented and improved the 
means of living ; and the mind, freed from the caces of the first wants 
of nature, must have raised itself to die complicated art of compar- 
ing ideas, of digesting ai-gument, and seizing abstract similitudes." 

Origin of the Idea of God : Worship of the Elements and of 
the Physical Powers of .Nature. 

" It was not till after having overcome diese obstacles, and gone 
through a long career in the night of history, that man, reflecting on 
his condition, began to perceive that he Avas subjected to forces su- 
perior to his own aixl independent of his will. The sun enlightened 
and warmed him, fire burned him, thunder terrified him, the wind 
beat upon him, and water drowned him; all beings acted upon him 
powerfully and irresistibly. He sustained diis action for a long time, 
like a machine, without inquiring the cause ; but the moment he be- 
gan his inquiries, he fell into astonishment; and passing from the 
surprise of his first reflections to the revery of curiosity, he began a 
chain of reasoning. 

" First, considering the action of the elements on him, he conceiv- 
ed an idea of weakness and subjection on his part, and of power and 
domination on dieirs ; and diis idea of power was the primitive and 
fundamental type of every idea of die Divinity. 

" Secondly, the action of these natural existences excited in him 
sensations of pleasure or pain, of good or evil; and by a natu. al ef- 
fect of his organization, he conceived for them love or aversion ; he 
desired or dreaded their presence ; and fear or hope gave rise to the 
first idea of religion. 

" Tlien, judging everything by comparison, and remarking in these 
beings a spontaneous movement like his own, he supposed this move- 



118 THE RUINS 

ment directed by a will, an intelligence, of the nature of his own : 
and hence by induction, he formed a new reasoning. — Having expe- 
rienced that certain practices towards his fellow creatures had the 
effect to modify their affections and direct their conduct, he resorted 
to tlie same practices -towards tliese powerful beings of the universe : 
he reasoned thus, ' When my fellow croature, stronger than I, is dis- 
posed to do me injury, I demean myself before him, and by prayers 
succeed in appeasing him. I will pray to these powerful beings who 
strike me ; I will implore the intelligences of the winds, the stars 
and the waters, and they will hear me. I will conjure them to avert 
the evil and give me the good that is at their disposal ; I will move 
them by my tears, I will soften them by offerings, and will enjoy hap- 
piness.' 

'' Thus simple man, in the infancy of his reason, spoke to the sun 
and moon ; he animated with his own understanding and passions, 
the great agents of nature ; he tliought by vain sounds, and vain 
practices, to change their inflexible laws : fatal error ! he prayed the " 
stone to ascend, the water to rise above its level, the mountains to 
remove, and substituting a fantastical world to the real one, he peo- 
pled it with imaginary beings, to tlie terror of his mind and the tor- 
ment of his race. 

" In this mamier the ideas of God and religion have sprung, like 
all others, from physical objects, and were produced in the mind of 
man by his sensations, his wants, the circumstances of his life and 
the progressive state of his knowledge. 

" Now, as die ideas </f the Divinity had their first models in phys- 
ical agents, it followed that the Divinity was at first varied and 
manifold, like the form under which he appeared to act : every being 
was a power, a genius ; and the fu-st men conceived the universe filled 
with innumerable gods. 

" Again, the ideas of tlie Divinity have been created by the affec- 
tions of the human heart ; they became necessarily divided into two 
classes, according to the sensations of pleasure or pain, love or 
hatred : the powers of nature, the gods, the genii were divided into 
beneficent and malignant, good and evil ; and hence the universality 
of these two characters in all the systems of religion. 

" These ideas, analogous to the condition of their inventors, were 
for a long time confused and ill digested. Savage men, wandering 
in the woods, beset with wants, and destitute of resources, liad not 
the leisure to combine principles and diaw conclusions ; affected with 



THE RUINS. 119 

more evils than they found pleasures, their most habitual sentiment 
was that of fear, their theology terror ; their worship was confined to 
a few salutations and oflbrings to beings whom they conceived as 
ferocious and as greedy as themselves. In their state of equality and 
independence, no man offered himself as a mediator between men and 
gods as insubordinate and poor as himself. No man having super- 
fluities to g* e, there existed no parasite by the name of priest, no 
tribute by t* \^ ^_ me of victim, no empire by tlie name of altar ; their 
dogmas and their morals were the same thing, it was only self-pre- 
servation ; and religion, that arbitraiy idea, without influence on the 
mutual relations of men, was a vain homage rendered to the visible 
powers of nature. 

" Such was the necessary and original idea of the divinity." 
And the orator addressing himself to the savage nations : — " We 
appeal to you, men who have received no foreign and factitious ideas ; 
say, have you ever gone beyond what I have described 1 And you, 
doctors, Ave call you to witness; is not this the unanimous testimony 
of all ancient monuments 1 " * 

* " Testimony of all ancient monuments."—' It clearly results,' says 
Plutarch, ' from the verses of Orpheus and the sacred books of the Egyp- 
tians and Phrygians, that the ancient theology, not only of the Greeks, 
but of all nations, was nothing more than a system of physics, a picture 
of the operations of nature, wrapped up in mysterious allegories and 
enigmatical symbols, so that the ignorant multitude attended rather to 
their apparent than to- their hidden meaning, and even in what they un- 
derstood of the latter, supposed something more deep than what they 
perceived.' Fragment of a work of Plutarch now lost, quoted by Eu- 
sebius Prcepar. Evang. lib. 3, c. I, p. 85. 

The majority of philosophers, says Porphyry, and among others Chce- 
remon (who lived in Egypt in the first age of Christianity,) imagine 
there never existed any other world than the one we see, and acknow- 
ledged no other gods, of all those recognised by the Egyptians, than such 
as are commonly called planets, signs of the Zodiac, and constellations ; 
whose aspects (risings and settings,) are supposed to influence the for- 
tunes of men ! to which they add their divisions of the signs into decans 
or rulers of time, whom they style lords of the ascendant, whose names, 
virtues in healing distempers, rising, setting, and presages of future 
events, are the subjects of almanacs (and the Egyptian priests had 
almanacs the exact counterpart of Matthew Laensberg's ;) for when the 
priests affirmed that the sun was the architect of the universe, Chcere- 
mon presently conchides that all their narratives respecting Isis and 
Osiris, together with their other sacred fables, referred in part to the 
planets, the phases of the moon, and the revolution of the sun, and in 
part to the stars of the daily and ni^ihtly hemispheres and the rivef Nile ; 
in a word, to physical and natural existences, and never to such as 
might be immaterial and incorporeal. — All these philosophers believe 
that the acts of our will and' the motion of our bodies depend upon those 
of the stars to which they are subjected, and they refer everything to 
the laws of (physical) necessity, which they call destiny or fate, sup- 
posing a chain of cp.use? and effects which binds, by I know not what 



120 THE RUINS 



II. Second System. Worship of the Stars or Sabeism. 

" But those same monuments present us likewise a more methodical 
and complicated system, that of the worship of all the stars, adored 
Bometimes in their proper forms, sometimes under figurative emblems 
and symbols ; and this worship was the effect of the knowledge men 
had acquired in physics, and was derived immediately from the first 
causes of the social state, that is, from the necessities and arts of the 
first degree which are among the elements of society. 

" Indeed, as soon as men began to unite in society, it became neces- 
sary for them to multiply the means of subsistence, and consequently 
to attend to agriculture : agriculture, to be carried on with success, 
requires the observation and knowledge of the heavens.* It was ne- 
cessary to know the periodical return of the same operations of nature, 
and the same phenomena in the skies ; indeed, to go so far as to as- 
certain the duration and succession of the seasons and the months of 
the year. It was indispensable to know in the first place, the course 
of the sun, who, m his zodiacal revolutions, shows himself tlie first 
and supreme agent of the whole creation ; then, of the moon, who, 
by her jjhases and periods, regulates and distributes time ; then of 
the stars, and even planets, which by their appearance and disappear- 
ance on the horizon and nocturnal hemisphere, marked tlie minutest 
divisions ; finally, it was necessary to form a whole system of astron- 
omy, or a calendar; and from these works there naturally followed 
a new manner of considering these predominant and governing powers. 
Having observed that the pi'odnctioas of the earth had a regular and 
constant relation with the heavenly bodies ; that the rise, growth and 
decline of each plant kept pace with the appearance, elevation, and 

connexion, all beings toffether, from the atom, to the supreme power 
and primary influence of the gods ; so that, whether in their temple» 
or in their images and idols, the only subject of worship is the power 
of destiny. (Porphyr. Epist. ad lanebonem.) 

* " Requires the knowledge of the heavens." — It continues to be re- 
peated every day, on the indirect authority of the book of Genesis, that 
astronomy was the invention of the children of Noah. It has l«ea 
gravely said, that while wandering as shepherds in the plains of Shinar„ 
they employed their leisure in composing a planetary system-, as if 
shepherds were under the necessity of knowing more than the polar 
star ; rind as if necessity was not the sole motive of every invention I 
If the ancient shepherds were so studious and sagacious, how does it 
happen that the modern ones are so ignorant and inattentive ? Now it 
is a fact, that tlie Arabs of the desert do not know six constellatioiis^ 
and do not understand a word of astvoncmy 



THE RUINS. 121 

declination of the same star, or group of stars ; in short, that the lan- 
guor or activity of vegetation seemed to depend on celestial influences, 
men di-ew from thence an idea of action, of power in those beings, 
superior to earthly bodies ; and the stars dispensing plenty or scarcity, 
became powers, genii, gods, authors of good and evil.* 

" As the state of society had already iatroducsd a regular hierarchy 
of ranks, employments and conditions, men, continuing to reason by 
comparison, carried their new notions into their theology, and form- 
ed a complicated sj'stem of gradual divinities, in which the sun, as 
first god, was a militai^ chief, a political kiiig; the moon was his 
wife, and queen ; the planets were servants, bearers of commands, 
messengers ; and the multitude of stars were a nation, an army of he- 
roes, genii whose office was to govern the world under th*" orders of 
their chiefs ; and all the individuals had names, functions, attributes 
drawn from their relations and influences ; and even sexes, from the 
gender of their appellations.! 

" And as the social state had introduced certain usages and ceremo- 
nies, religion also adopted similar ones; these ceremonies, at first 
simple and private, became public and solemn; the offerings became 
rich and more numerous, and tlie rites more methodical ; they assign- 
ed certain places for the assemblies, and began to have chapels and 
temples ; they instituted officers to administer tliem, and these became 
priests and pontiffs ; they established liturgies, and sanctified certain 
days, and religion became a civil act, a political tie. But in tliis ar- 
rangement, religion did not change its first principles, and the idea 
of God was always tliat of physical beings, operating good or evil, t Jat 
is, impressing sensations of pleasure or pain ; the dogma was the 

*" Genii, gods, authors of good and evil."— It appears that by the 
word genius, the ancients denoted a productive quality, a generative 
power, for the following words, which are all of one fkmily, convey 
this meaning : generare, genos, genesis, genus, gens. 

' The ancient and modern Sabeans, says Maimonides, acknowledge 
a principal God, the maker and inhabitant of heaven ; but on account 
of^his great distance they conceive him to be inaccessible,- -ind in imi- 
tation of the conduct of people towards their kings, they enf by as me- 
diators with him the planets and their angels, whom they caII princes 
and potentates, and whom they suppose to reside in those luminous 
bodies, as in palaces or tabernacles, etc' (More Nebuchim, pars m, 
c. 29.) 

■f "Sexes, from the gender of their appellations."— According as the 
gender of the object was in the language of the nation masculine or 
feminine, the divinitv who bore its name was Aile or female. Thus 
the Cappadocians called the moon god, and the sun goddess ; a circum- 
stance which gives to the same beings a perpetual variety in ancient 
mythology. , 



122 THE RUINS. 

knowledge of their laws Cf manner of acting ; virtue and sin, the ob* 
servance cr infraction of these laws ; and morality, in its native sim- 
plicity, was tlie judicious practice of whatever contributes to the 
preservation of existence) the wellbeing of ©ne's self and his fellow 
creatures.* 

" Should it be asked at what epoch this system took its birth, we 
shall answer, on the testimony of the monuments of astronomy itself, 
that its principles appear incontestably to have been established more 
than fifteen thousand years ago if and if it be asked to what people 
it is to be attributed, we shall answer that the same monuments, sup- 
ported by unanimous traditions, attribute it to the first tribes of Egypt j 
and when reason finds in that country all the circumstances which 
could lead to such a system ; when it finds there a zone of sky, bor- 
dering on the tropic, equally free from the rains of the equator and 

* " Whatever contributes to the preservation of one's self and his fel- 
low creatures." — To this Plutarch adds that these (Egyptian) prie^s 
always regarded the preservation of health as a point of firsi, importance, 
—and as indispensably necessary to the practice of piety and the service 
of the gods, etc. (See Isis and Osiris, towards the end.) 

f'More than fifteen thousand years ago." — The historical orator 
follows here the opinion of the learned Dupuis, who first in his Memoir 
concerning the origin of the Constellations, and afterwards in his great 
work concerning the origin of all Worship, has collected a great many 
arguments to prove that formerly Libra was the sign of the vernal, and 
Aries of the autumnal equinox •, that is, that the precession of the equi- 
noxes has produced a change of more than seven signs. The action of 
this phenomenon cannot be denied : the most recent calculations value 
it at 50 seconds, 12 or 15 thirds a year : therefore every degree of the 
zodiacal signs is removed and put back, in 71 years 8 or 9 months : 
therefore an entire sign in 2152 or 53 years. But if, as is the fact, the 
equinocf'-il point of spring was exactly in the 1st degree of Aries, in the 
year 388 oefore J. C ; that is, if at that period, the sun had gone through 
and put back whoVe sign, to enterinto Pisces, which he has left in our 
own time, it follows that if he had left Taurus 2153 years before, that 
is about the year 2540 before J. C. and had entered it about the year 
4692 before J. C. Thus ascending from sign to sign, the 1st degree of 
Aries was the autumnal equinoctial point, about 12,919 years before the 
year 388, that is to say 13,300 years before the Christian era: add our 
eighteen centuries, you will find fifteen thousand one hundred years, 
and moreover, the quantity of time and of ages necessary to bring as- 
tronomical knowledge to such a degree of perfection. Now it is to be 
observed, that the worship of the Bull is the principal article in the 
theological creed of the Egyptians, Persians, Japanese, etc., which 
clearly indicates at that epoch some common system of ideas among 
these nations. The five or six thousand years of Genesis can be object 
ed only by those who believe in it from education. (See on this subject 
the analysis of Genesis, in the 1st. vol. of New Researches on ancient 
History •, see also Ori|h of Constellations, by Dupuis, 1781 ; the Origin 
of Worship, in 3 vol. 1794, and the Chronological Zodiac, in 4to. 1806 ) 



THE RUINS. 123 

the fogs of the north ; when it finds there a central point of the sphere 
of the ancients, a salubrious climate, a great, but manageable river, 
a soil fertile without labor or art, inundated without morbid ejdiala- 
tions, and placed between two seas which communickle with the 
richest countries, it conceiveg that the inhabitant of the Nile, addicted 
to agricuUure from the nature of his soil, to geometry from the annual 
necessity of measuring his lands, to commerce from the facility of 
communications, to astronomy from the state of his sky always open 
t© observation, must have been tlie first to pass from the savage to 
tlie social state, and consequently to attain the physical and moral 
sciences necessiiry to civilized life. 

" It was then on the borders of the upper Nile among a black race 
of men, tliat was organized tlie complicated system of the worship of 
the stars considered in relation to the productions of the eartli and 
the labors of agriculture ; and this first worship, characterised by 
their adoration under their own forms and natural attributes, was a 
simple proceeding of the human mind ; but in a short time, the mul- 
tiplicity of the objects, of their relatione, and their reciprocal influ- 
ence, having complicated the ideas, and the signs tliat represented 
them, tliere followed a confusion as singular in its cause as perni- 
cious ia its eflfects." 

III. Third System. Worship of Symbols, or Idolatry 

*' Ab soon as this agricultural people began to observe the stars 
with attention, they found it necessary to individualize or group 
them, and to assign to each a proper name, in order to understand 
each otlier in their designation : but to this there was a great obsta- 
cle ; for, on the one hand, the heavenly bodies, similar in form, of- 
fered no distinguishing characteristics by which to denominate them ; 
and on tlie other, language in its infancy and poverty, had no ex> 
pressions for so many new EUid metaphysical ideas. Necessity, the 
usual stimulus of genius, surmounted everything. Having remarked 
that in the annual revolution, the renewal, and periodical appfearance 
of terrestrial productions were constantly associated with the rising 
and setting of certain stars, and to tlieir position as relative to the 
sun, the fundamental term of all comparison, tlie mind, by a natural 
operation, connected in thought these terrestrial and celestial objects, 
which w6re connected in fact ; and applying to them a common sign, 



124 THE RUINS. 

it gave to the stars, and their groups, the names of the terrestrial ob- 
jects to which they answered. * 

" Thus tlie Etliiopian of Thebes named stars of inundation, or 
Aquarius, those under which the Nile began to overflow ; stars of the 
ox or bulj, those under which he began to plough ; stars of the lion, 
those under which that animal, driven from the desert by thirst, ap- 
peared on tlie banks of the Nile ; stars of the sheaf or of the harvest 
virgin, those of fiie reaping season ; stars of t?»e lamb, stars of the 
kids, those under which these precious animals were brought forth : 
and thus was resolved the first part of the difficulty. 

*' Moreover, man having remarked in the beings which surround- 
ed him, certain qualities distinctive and peculiar to each species ; 
and having thence derived a name by which to designate them ; he 
foimd in the same source an ingenious mode of generalizing his ideas ; 
and, transferring the name already invented to everything which 
bore any resemblance or analogy, he enriched his language with a 
perpetual round of metaphors. 

" Thus, the same Ethiopian having observed that the return of thf, 
inundation always corresponded with tlie rising of a beautiful star 
which appeared towards the source of the Nile, and seemed to warn 
the husbandman against the coming waters, he compared this action 
to that of the animal who, by his barking, gives notice of danger, 
and he called this star the dog, the barker (Syrius ;) in tlie same 
manner he named the stars of the crab, those where the sun, having 
arrived at the tropic, retreated by a slow retrograde motion like the 
crab or cancer; he named stars of the wild goat, or Capricorn, those 
where the sun, having reached the highest point in his annuary tract, 
rests at the summit of tlie horary gnomon, and imitates the goat, who 
delights to climb the summit of the rocks ; he named stars of the 
balance or libra, those where the days and nights, being equal, 
seemed in equilibrium like that instrument : and stars of the scorpi- 
on, those where certain periodical winds bring vapors, burning like 
the venom of the scorpion. In the same manner he called by the 
name of rings and serpents the figured traces of the orbits of the stars 
and planets : and such was the general mode of haming f all tlie 

* " The names of the terrestrial objects to which they answered." — 
" The ancients, says Maimonides, directing all their attention to agri- 
culture, gave to the stars names derived from their occupation during 
the year." (More Neb , pars 5.) 

t " Such was the general mode of naming."— The ancients had verbs 
from the substantives crab, goat, tortoise, as the French liave at present 



THE RUINS. 125 

«tars, and even the planets, taken by groups or as individuals, ac- 
cording to tlieir relations with husbandry and terrestrial objects, and 
according to the analogies which each nation found between them and 
the objects of its particular soil and climate. 

" From this it appeared that abject and terrestrial beings became 
associated with the superior and powerful inhabitants of heaven ; 
and this association became stronger evei^ day by the mechanism of 
language and the constitution of the human mind. Men would say, 
by a natural metaphor ; ' The bull spreads over the earth tlie germs 
of fecundity (in spring:) he restores vegetation and plenty ; tlie lamb 
(or ram) delivers the skies from the malevolent genii of winter ; he 
saves the world from the serpent (emblem of the humid season,) and 
restores the empire of goodness (summer, joyful season.) The scor- 
pion pours out his poison on the earth, and scatters diseases and 
death, etc. ; the same of all similar effects.' 

" This language, understood by every one, was attended at first 
with no inconvenience ; but in the course of time, when the calendar 
had been regulated, the people, who had no longer any need of ob- 
serving the heavens, lost sight of the original meaning of these ex- 
pressions ; and the allegories remaining in common use, became a 
fatal stumbling-block to the understanding and to reason. Habitua- 
ted to associate to the symbols the ideas of then: archetypes, the 
mind at last confounded them : then the same animals, whom fancy 
had transported to the skies, turned again to the earth ; but being 
thus returned, clothed in the livery «f the stars, they claimed tlie 
Btellary attributes, and imposed on their own authors. Then it was 
that the people, believing that they saw their gods among them, could 
pray to them with more convenience ; they demanded from the ram 
of their flock the influences which might be expected from the heav- 
enly ram ; they prayed the scorpion not to pom* out his venom upon 
nature ; they revered the crab of the sea, the scarab of the mire, the 
fish of the river ; and by a series of corrupt but inseparable analo- 
gies, they lost themselves in a labyrinth of well connected absurdities. 

" Such was the origin of that ancient whimsical worship of the 
animals ; such is the train of ideas by which the character of the 
divinity became common to tlie vilest of brutes, and by which was 
formed that theological system, extremely comprehensive, complicated 
and learned, which, rising on tlie borders of the Nile, propagated 

the verbs serpenter, coqueter ; the mechanism of all languages is nearly 
the same.' 



126 THE RUINS. 

from country to country, by commerce, war and conquest, overspread 
the whole of the ancient world; and which modified by time, cir- 
cumstances and prejudices, is still seen entire among a hundred na- 
tions, and remains as the essential and secret basis of tlie theology 
of those even who despise and reject it." 

Some murmurs at these words being heard from various groups : 
** Yes," continued the orator, " hence arose, for instance, among 
you, nations of Africa, the adoration of your fetiches, plants, animals, 
pebbles, pieces of wood, before which your ancestors would not have 
had the folly to bow, if they had not seen in them talismans endowed 
with the virtue of the stars.* Here, ye nations of Tartary ! is the 
origin of your marmosets, and of all that Uain of animals with which 
your chamans ornament their magical robes. This is the origin of 
those figures of birds and of snakes which savage nations imprint 
upon their skins with sacred and mysterious ceremonies. Ye inhab- 
itants of India I in vain you cover yourselves with the veil of myste- 
ry : the hawk of your god Vichenou is but one of the thousand em- 
blems of the sun in Egypt ; and your incarnations of a god in the 
fish, the boar, tlie lion, the tortoise, and all his monstrous adventures, 
are only the metamorphoses of the sun, who, passing through the 
signs of the twelve animals, M'as supposed to assume their figures, 
jand perform their astronomical fimctions.t People of Japan ! your 

* " Endowed with the virtue of the stars."— The ancient astrologers, 
ea; s the most learned of the Jews (Maimonides,) having consecrated to 
each planet a color, an animal, a tree, a metal, a fruit, a plant, formed 
from them all a figure or representation of the star, taking care to select 
for the purpose a proper moment, a fortunate day, such as the conjunc- 
tion or §ome other favorable aspect ; they conceived that by their (magic) 
ceremonies they could introduce into those figures or idols" the influences 
of the superior beings after which they were modelled. These were the 
idols that the Kaldean Sabeans adored ; and in the performance of their 

worship they were obliged to be dressed in the proper color . Thus, 

the astrologers, by their practices, introduced idolatry, desirous of being 
regarded as the dispensers of the favors of heaven : and as agriculture 
was the sole employment of the ancients, they succeeded in persuading 
them that the rain and other blessings of the seasons were at their dispo- 
sal ; thus, the whole art of agriculture was exercised by rules of astrol- 
ogy, and the priests made talismans or charms, which were to drive 
away locusts, flies, etc. See Malmonides, More ]\ebuchim, pars III, c. 9 

' The priests of Egypt, Persia, India, etc., pretended to bind the Gods 
to their idols, and to make them descend from heaven at their pleasure ; 
they threatened the sun and moon to reveaj the secret mysteries, to shake 
the heavens, etc' (Euseb. Proepar. Evang. page. 198 and Jam 
biicus, de Mysteriis ^gypt.) 

t" And perform their astronomical functions." — These are the very 
words of Jamblicus, de symbolis iEgyptiorum, c. 2, sect. 7. The sun 
was the grand Proteus, the universal metamorphist. 



THE RUINS. 127 

bull, which bre;iks the mundane egg, is only the bull of the zodiac, 
which in former times opened the seasons, the age of creation, the 
vernal equinox. It is tlie same bull Apis which Egypt adored, and 
which your ancestors, O Jewish rabbins ! worshipped in the golden 
calf. This is still your bull, followers of Zoroaster ! which, sacrifi- 
ced in the symbolic mysteries of Milhra, poured out his blood which 
fertilized the earth : and, ye Christians ! your Bull of the apocalypse, 
with his wings, symbol of the air, has no other origin ; and your 
Iamb of God, sacrificed, like theJjuU of Mithra, for the salvation of 
the world, is only the same sun, in the sign of the celestial ram, 
which, in a later age, opening the equinox in his turn, was supposed 
to deliver the world from evil, that is to say, from the constellation 
of the serpent, from that great snake, tlie parent of winter, the em- 
blem of the Ahrimanes or Satan of the Persians, yoiu* instructers. 
Yes, in vain does your imprudent zeal consign idolaters to the tor- 
ments of Tartarus which they invented : the whole basis of your 
system is only tlie worship of tlie sun, witli whose attributes you 
have decorated your principal personage. It is the sun which, under 
the name of Orus, was born, like your god, at the winter solstice, in 
the arras of the celestial virgin, and who passed a childhood of ob- 
scurity, indigence, and want, answering to the season of cold and 
frost. It is he that, under the name of Osiris, persecuted by Typhon 
and by the tyrants of the air, was put to death, shut up in a dark 
tomb, emblem of the hemisphere of winter; and afterwards, ascend- 
ing from the inferior zone towards the zenith of heaven arose again 
from the dead triumphant over the giants and the angels of destruc- 
tion. • 

" Ye priests ! who murmiu* at tliis relation, you wear his embleibs 
all over your bodies; your tonsure is the disk of the sun,* your stole 
is his zodiac, yoiu: rosaries are symbols of the stars and planets. Ye 

* " Your tonsure is the disk of the sun." — ' The Arabs, says Herodotus, 
b. Ill, shave their heads in a circle and about their temples, in imitation, 
as they pretend, of Bacchus (who is the sun.) Jeremiah speaks also of 
this custom, c. 25, v. 23. The tuft of hair which the Mussulman pre- 
serve, is taken also from the sun, who was painted by the Egyptians at 
<he winter solstice, sis having but a single hair on his head. (Your stole 
is his zodiac.) The robes of the goddess of Syria and of Diana of Ephe- 
sus, from whence are borrowed the dress of the priests, have the twelve 
animals of the Zodiac painted on them. The rosaries are found upon all 
the Indian idols, erected more than four thousand five hundred years 
ago, and their use in the East has been universal from time immemorial. 
The crosier is precisely the staft' of Bootes of Osiris. (See plate 3.) All 
the himas wear the mitre or cap in the shape of a cone, which was an 
emblem of the sun. 



128 • THE RUINS 

pontiffs and prelates ! your mitre, your crosier, your mantle, are 
those of Osiris : and that cross, whose mystery you extol without 
comprehending it, is the cross of Serapis, traced by the hands of 
Egyptian priests on the plan of the figurative world ; which, passing 
through the equinoxes and trojjics, became the emblem of the future 
life, and of tlie resurrection, because it touched the gates of ivoiy 
and of horn, tlu-ough which tlie soul passed to heaven." 

At these words, the doctors of all the groups began to look at each 
other with astonishment, but no ojie breaking silence, tlie orator 
proceeded : 

" Three principal causes concur to produce this confusion of ideas. 
First the figurative expressions under which an infant language was 
obliged to describe the relations of objects ; which expressions pass- 
ing afterwards from a limited to a general sense, and from a physical 
to a moral one, caused by their ambiguities and synonyraes, a great 
number of mistakes. 

" Thus, it being first said that the sun had surmounted, or finished 
twelve animals, it was tliought afterwards tliat he had killed, fought, 
conquered them ; and this gave rise to the historical life of Hercules.* 

" It being said that he regulated the periods of rm-al labor, the 
seed time, and the harvest ; that he distributed the seasons, and oc- 
cupations ; that he ran through the climates and ruled the earth, etc., 
he was taken for a legislative king, a conquering warrior ; and they 
framed from this the history of Osiris, of Bacchus, and others of that 
description. 

" Having said that a planet entered into a sign, they made of this 
coni!mction a marriage, an adultei"y, an incest. Having said that 
tne planet was hid or buried, when it came back to light and ascend- 
ed to Its exaltation, they said it had died, risen again, ascended into 
heaven, etc. 

" A second cause of confusion was the material figures themselves 
by which men first painted thoughts, and which, under the name of 
hieroglyphics or sacred characters, were the first invention of the 
mind. Thus, to give warning of the inundation and of the necessity 
to guard against it, they painted a boat, the ship Argo ; to express 
the wind, they painted the wing of a bird ; to designate the season 
or the month, they painted the bird of passage, the insect, or the an- 
imal which made its appearance at that epoch ; to describe the win- 

* " This gave rise to the historical life of Hercules.'' — See Dupuis* 
work, Origiu of Constellations and Origin of all Worship. 



THE RUINS. 129 

tei", they painted a hog or serpent, which delight in humid places ; 
and tlie combination of these figures carried the known sense of 
words and phrases.* But as this sense could not be fixed with pre- 

* " The combination of these figures carried the known sense." — The 
reader will doubtless see with pleasure some examples of ancient hier- 
oglyphics. 

' The Egyptians, says Hor-Apollo, represent eternity by the figures 
of the sun and moon. They designate the world by a blue serpent with 
yellow scales (stars ; it is the Chinese Dragon.) If they had to express 
the year, they painted Isis, who is also in their language called Sothis, 
or dogstar, the first of the constellations, by the rising of which the year 
commences ; its inscription at Sais was, It is I that rise in the constel- 
lation of the Dog. 

' They also represent the year by a palm tree, and the month by one 
of its branches j because it is the nature of this tree, to produce a branch 
every month. 

' They further represent it by a quarter of an acre. (The acre, divi- 
ded into four, denotes the bissextile period of four years , the abbrevia- 
tion of this figure of a field in four divisions is manifestly the letter ha or 
heth, the seventh in the Samaritan alphabet ; in general the letters of the 
alphabet are merely astronomical hieroglyphics ; and it is for th.s reason 
that the mode of writing is from right to left, like the march of the stars.) 
They denote a prophet by the image of a dog, because the dog star 
(Anoubis) by its rising gives notice of the inundation. 

'They represent inundation by a lion, because it takes place under 
that sign •, and hence, says Plutarch, the custom of placing at the gates 
of temples figures of lions spouting water from their mouths. 

' They express God and destiny by a star. They also represent God, 
says Porphyry, by a black stone, because his nature is dark and obscure. 
All white things express the celestial and luminous gods ; all circular 
ones the world, the moon, the sun, the orbits; all bows and crescents, the 
moon.— Fire and the gods of Olympus, they represent by pyrajnids and 
obelisks (the name of the sun, Baal, is found in this latter word ;) the 
sun by a cone (the mitre of Osiris ;) the earth by a cylinder (which 
rolls ;) the generative power (of the air) by the phallus, and that of the 
earth by a triangle, emblem of the female organ. Euseb., Prsepar. 
Evang. p. 98.) 

' Clay, says Jamblicus, de symbolis, sect. 7, c. 2, denotes matter, the 
generative and nutritive power ; everything which receives the warmth 
and fermentation of life. 

* A man sitting upon the lotos or nenuphar, represents the moving 
spirit (the sun) which, in like manner as that plant lives in the water 
without any communication with clay, exists equally distinct from mat- 
ter, swimming in space, resting on itself; round in all its parts like the 
fruit, leaves and flowers of the Lotos. (Braliraa has lotos-eyes, says 
the Chaster Neardisen, to denote his intelligence, his eye, swimming 
over everything, like the flower of the lotos on the waters.) A man at 
the helm of a ship, adds Jamblicus, is descriptive of the sun which gov- 
erns all. And Porphyry tell us that the sun is also represented by a 
man in a ship resting on a crocodile (the amphibious emblem of air and 
water.) 

* At Elephantina they worshipped the figure of a man sitting, of a 
blue color, with a ram's head, and a goat's horns encompassing the disk • 
all which represented the sun and moon's conjunction in the ram ; the 
blue color denoting the power of the moon, ^M|^ period of junction, to 
raise water into clouds (apud Euseb. Pra3pa]^H|zig. p. 116.) 

< The hawk is an emblem of the sun and ]^^Kn account of his rap« 



ISO THE RUINS. , 

cision ; as the number of these figures and their combinations became 
excessive, and overburdened the memory, the immediate consequence 
was confusion and false interpretations. Genius afterwards having 
invented tiie more simple art of applying signs to sounds, of which 
tlie number is limited, and painting words, instead of tlioughts, alpha- 
betical writing threw into disuse hieroglyphical painting; and its 
eignification, falling daily into oblivion, gave rise to a multitude of 
illusions, 'ambiguities and errors. 

" Finally, a third cause oi' confusion was the civil oi^anization of 
ancient states. When the people began to apply themselves to agri- 
culture, the formation of a rural calendar requiring a continued series 
of astronomical observations, it became necessary to appoint certain 
individuals charged with the functions of watching the appeiirance 
and disappearance of certain stars: to foretell the return of the inun- 
dation, of certain winds, of the rainy season, the proper time to sow 
every ki.id of grain : tliese men, on account of their service, were 
exempt from common labor, and the society provided ur tlieir 
maintenance. With this provision, and wholly employed in their 

id flight and his soaring into the highest regions of the air where light 
abounds. 

' A fish is the emblem of aversion, and the hippopotamus of violence, 
because it is said lo kill its father and ravish its mother. Hence, says 
Plutarch, the hieroglyphical inscription of the temple of Sais, where we 
see painted on the vestibule, Istly. a child ; 2dly. an old man ; 3dly. a 
hawk ; 4thly. a fish ; and 5thly. a hippopotamus ; which signify, Istly. 
entrance into life, 2dly. departure, 3dly. god, 4thly. hates, 5thly. injus- 
tice. (See Isis and Osiris.) 

' The Egyptians, adds he, represent the world by a scarab, because 
this insect pushes in a direction contrary to that in which it proceeds, a 
bail containing Its eggs, just as the heaven of the fixed stars causes the 
revolution of the sun (the yolk of an egg) in an opposite direction to 
its own. 

' They represent the world r.lso by the number five, being that of the 
'elements, which, says Diodoras, are earth, water, air, fire and ether or 
spiritus (they are the same amongst the Indians ;) and according to the 
mystics, in Macrobius, they are the supreme Goa or primum mobile, the 
intelligence or meus born of him, the soul of the world which proceeds 
from him, the celestial spheres and all things terrestrial. Hence, adds 
Plutarch, the analogy between the Greek pente, five, and Pan, all. 

' The ass,' says he again, ' is the emblem of Typhon, because he is of 
a ruddy color like that animal ; now Typhon signifies whatever is of 
a miry or clayey nature, and in Hebrew I find the three words clay, rud- 
dy and ass to be formed from the same root, hamr.) Jamblicus has far- 
ther told us that clay denoted matter, arid he elsewhere adds that all 
evil and corruption proceeded from matter ; which compared with the 
phrase of Macrobius, all is perishable, liable to change in the celestial 
sphere, gives us the theory, first physical, then moral, of the system of 
good and evil of the an(H|bts.' (See also the Memoir concerning the 
Zodiac of Pendera, wh&flne learned Dupuis has inserted in the jour 
nal entitled Revue PhiuHpique, year 1801.) 



THE RUINS. 131 

observation, they soon became acquainted with tlie great phenom- 
ena of nature, and even learned to penetrate the secret of many of 
her operations. They discovered the movement of tlie stars and 
planets : the coincidence of tlieir phases and returns with the pro- 
ductions of the earth and the action of vegetation ; the medicinal 
and nutritive proi)erties of plants and fruits ; the action of the ele- 
ments and their reciprocal affinities. Now, as there was no other 
method of communicating tl»e knowledge of these discoveries but the 
laborious one of oral instruction, they transmitted it only to their re- 
lations and friends ; it followed that all science and instruction were 
confined to a few families, who arrogating it to themselves as an ex- 
clusive privilege, assumed a professional distinction, a corporation 
spirit, fatal to the public welfare. This continued succession of the 
same researches and the same labors, hastened, it is true, the pro- 
gress of knowledge ; but by the mystery which accompanied it, tlie 
people were daily plunged in deeper shades, and became more super- 
stitious and more enslaved. Seemg their fellow mortals produce 
certain phenomena, announce, as at will, eclipses and comets, heal 
diseases, and handle serpents, they thought tliem in alliance with 
celestial powers ; and to obtain the blessings and avert the evils 
which they expected from above, they took them for mediators and 
interpreters : and tJius became established in the bosom of every state 
sacrilegious corporations of hypocritical and deceitful men, who en- 
grossed all the authority ; and the priests, being at once astronomers, 
theologians, naturalists, physicians, magicians, interpreters of the 
gods, oracles of men, and rivals of kings or dieir accomplices, estab- 
lished imder the name of religion, an empire of mystery and a mon- 
opoly of instruction, which to this day have ruined every nation."— 

Here the priests of all the groups interrupted the orator ; and with 
loud cries accused him of impiety, irreligion, blasphemy, and endeav- 
oured to cut short his discourse ; but the legislator observing that this 
was only an exposition of historical facts, which if false or forged, 
would be easily refuted ; that hitherto the declaration of every opin- 
ion had been free, and without this it would be impossible to discover 
the truth, the orator proceeded : 

" Now, from all these causes and from the continual association of 
ill-assorted ideas, a-ose a maps of disorders in theology, in morals 
and in traditions : first, because tJie animals represented the stars, 
the characters of the animals, their appetites, their sympathies, their 
aversione, passed over to the gods, and were supposed to be their 



13^ THE RUINS. 

actions : thusj the god ichneumon made war against tlie god croco- 
dile ; tlie god wolf liked to eat tlie god sheep ; the god ibis devoured 
the god serpent ; and the deity became a strange, capricious and 
ferocious being, whose idea deranged the judgment of man, and cor- 
rupted his morals and his reason. 

" Again, because in the spirit of their worship every family, every 
nation, took for its special patron a star or constellation, the affections 
or antipathies of the symbolic-ani.nal were transferred to its sectaries j 
and the partisans of the god dog were enemies to those of the god 
Wolf; those who adored the god ox abhorred those who eat him ; and 
religion became the senseless cause of frenzy and superstition.* 

" Besides, the names of those animal-stars having, for this same 
I'eason of patronage, been -conferred on nations, countries, mount^ains 
and rivers, these objects were taken for gods, and hence followed a 
mixture of geographical, historical, and mythological beings, which 
confounded all traditions 

" Finally, by the analogy of the actions which were ascribed to 
them, the god-stars having been taken for men, for heroes, for kings, 
kings and heroes took in their turn the actions of gods for models, 
and by imitation became warriors, conquerors, proud, lascivious, in- 
dolent, sanguinary ; and religion consecrated the crimes of despots, 
and perverted the piinciples of government." 

IV. Fourth System. Worship of two Principles, or Dualism. 

*' In the meantime, the astronomical priests, enjoying peace and 
abundance in their temples, made every day new })rogress in the 
sciences ; and the system of tlie world unfolding gradually to their 
view, they raised successively various hypotheses, as to its agents and 
effects, which became so many theologica svstems. 

*' The voyages of the maritime nations and the caravans of the 
Nomads of Asia and Africa, having given them a knowledge of tlie 
earth from the Fortunate-islands to Serica, and from the Baltic to the 
sources of the Nile, the comparison of the phenomena of various 
zones taught them the rotundity of the earth, and gave birth to a new 
theory. Having remai'ked that all the operations of nature, during 

* "The senseless cause of superstiiion."— These are Plutarch's own 
words, who relates that those various worships were given by a king 
of Egypt to the different towns, to disunite and enslave them, (and 
these kiiigs had been chosen from the cast of priests.) See lais and 
Osiris. 



THE RUINS. 



133 



the annual period, were reducible to two principal ones, that of pro- 
ducing and that of destroying ; that on tlie greater part of tlie globe, 
these two operations were performed in the intervals of the two equi- 
noxes, that is to say, during tlie six months of summer everything 
was procreating and multiplying, and that during winter everythir^ 
languished and almost died; they supposed in Nat0r,e two contra- 
ry powers, which were in a continual state of contention and exertion ; 
and considering the celestial sphere in this view, they divided the 
images Avhich they figured upon it into two halves or hemispheres, 
30 that the constellations which were on the summer heaven, formed 
a direct and superior empire, and those whicii were on the winter 
heaven composed an antipode and inferior empire. Therefore, as the 
constellations of summer accompanied the season of long, warm and 
imclouded days, and that of fruits, and harvests, they v.'ere considered 
as the powers of light, fecundity and creation, and, by a transition 
from a physical to a moral sense, they became genii, angels of science, 
of ueneficence, of purity and virtue : and as the constellations of win- 
ter weiiJ connected with long nights and polar fogs, they were the 
genii of darkness, of destruction, of death, and, by transition, angels 
of ignorance, of wickedness, of sin and vice. By this arrangement 
the heaven was divided into two domains, two factions : and the anal- 
ogy of human ideas ah-eady opened a vast field to the errors of imag- 
ination ; but the mistake and the illusion were determined, if not 
occasioned by a particular circumstance. (Observe plate III.) 

" In the projection of the celestial sphere, as traced by the astro- 
nomical priests,* the zodiac and the constellations, disposed in circular 
* " In the projection of the sphere as traced by the astronomical 
priests."— The ancient priests had three kinds of spheres, which it may 
be useful to make known to the reader. 

' We read in Eubalus,' says Porphyry, 'that Zoroaster was the first 
who, having fixed upon a cavern pleasantly situated in the mountains 
adjacent to Persia, formed the idea of consecrating it to Mithra (the sun,) 
cceator and father of all things ; that is to say, having made in this cav- 
ern several geometrical divisions, representing the seasons and the ele- 
ments, he imitated on a small scale the order and disposition of the 
universe by Mithra. After Zoroaster, it became a custom to consecrate 
caverns for the celebration of mysteries ! so that in like manner as tem- 
ples were dedicated to celestial gods, rural altars to heroes and terrestrial 
deities, subterraneous abodes to infernal (inferior) deities, so caverns 
and grrttoes were consecrated to the world, the universe, and the 
nymphs ; and from hence Pythagoras and Plato borrowed the idea of 
calling the world a cavern, a cave. (Porphyry, antro Nymphariim.) 

' Such was the first projection of the sphere in relief; and though the 
Persians give the honor of the invention to Zoroaster, it is doubtless due 
to the Egyptians ; for we may suppose from this projection being the 
most simple that it was the most ancient : the caverns of Thebes, full 
of similar pictures, tend to strengthen this opinion.' 
12 



134 THE RUINS. 

order, presented their halves in diametrical opposition : the hemi&. 
pjiere of winter, antipode of that of summer, was adverse, contrary, 
opposed to it.* By a continual metaphor, these words acquired a 
moral sense; and the adverse genii, or angels, became revolted ene- 
mies. From that moment all tlie astronomical history of the constel- 
lations was dianged into a political history ; the heavens became a 
human state, where things happened as on the earth. Now, as the 
earthly states, the greater part despotic, had already tlieir monarchs, 
and as the sun was apparently the monarch of the skies, the summer 
hemisphere, empire of light, and its constellations, a people of white 
angels, had for king an enlightened God, a creator intelligent and 
good. And as every rebel factici must have its chief, the heaven of 
winter, the subterranean empire of darkness and wo, and its stars, 
a people of black angels, giants or demons, had for their chief a ma- 
lignant Genius, whose character was applied by different people to 
the constellation which to them was the most remarkable. In Egypt, 
it was primitively the scorpion, first zodiacal sign after Libra, and 

The following was the second projection : ' the prophets or hierophants 
of the Egyptians,' says bishop Synnesius, 'who had been initiated in the 
mysteries, do not permit the common workmen to form idols or images 
of the gods ; but they descend themselves into the sacred caves, where 
they have concealed coffers containmg certain spheres upon which they 
construct those images secretly and without the knowledge of the people, 
who despise simple and natural things, and wish for prodigies and fa- 
bles.' (Syn., in Calvit.) That is, the ancient priests had armillary 
spheres like ours ; and this passage, which so well agrees with that of 
Ohosremon, gives us the key to all their theological astrology. 

Lastly, they had flat models of the nature of plate 111 ; with this dif- 
ference, that they were of a very complicated nature, having every 
fictitious division of decan and subdecan, with the hieroglyphic indica- 
tions of their influence. Kirker has given us a copy of one of them in 
his Egyptian ^dipus, and Gebelin a figured fragment in his book of the 
calendar (under the name of Egyptian Zodiac.) The ancient Egyptians 
says the astrologer Julius Firmicus, Astron., lib. II, c. 4, and lib. iV^, c. 
16, divide each sign of the zodiac into three sections ; and each section 
was under the direction of an imaginaiy being whom they called Decan 
or chief of ten : so that there were three decans in a month, and thirly-six 
in a year. Now, these decans, who were also called gods (Theoi,) regulat- 
ed the destinies of mankind — and they were placed particularly in certain 
stars. — They afterwards imagined in every ten three other 'gods, whom 
they called arbiters; so that there were nine for every month, and these 
were farther divided into an i-nfinite number of powers. (The Persians 
and Indians made their spheres on a similar plan •, and if a pictur*.- thereof 
were to be drawn from the description given by Scaliger at the end of 
Manilius, we should find in it a precise definition of their hieroglyphics, 
for every article forms one.) 

*"The hemisphere of winter was antipode to it."— It was for this 
reason the Persians always wrote the name of Ahrimanes inverted 
thus, •uiiun.u[V' 



THE RUINS. 135 

for a long time chief of the winter signs; then it win the bear, or 
polar ass, called Typhon, that is to say deluge, on account of the 
rains* which deluge the earth during the donii;aion of that ccnistella- 
tion. At a later period in Persia,t it was the serpent who, under 
the name of Ahrimanes, formed tlie basis of the system of Zoroaster : 
and it is the same, O Christians and Jews ! that has become your 
serpent of Eve (the celestial virgin) and that of the cross, in both 
cases, emblem of Satan, the enemy and -great adversary of the an- 
cient of days, sung by Daniel. 

" In Syria, it was the hog or wild boar, enemy of Adonis, because, 
in that country, the functions of the northern bear were performed 
by the animal whose inclination for mire and dirt was emblematic 
of winter : and this is the reason, followers of Moses and of Maho- 
met ! tliat you hold him in horror, in imitation of the priests or 
Memphis and Baalbek who detested him as the murderer of their 
God the sun. This likewise O Indians ! is the type of your Chib-en, 
who was formerly the Pluto of yourbretliren the Romans and Greeks: 
in like manner, your Brahma, God the creator, is only the Persian 
Ormuzd and the Egyptian Osiris, whose very name expresses crea- 
tive power, producer of forms. And these Gods received a worship 
analogous to their attributes real or imaginary, which worship was 
divided into two branches, according to their characters. The good 
God receives a worship of love and joy, from which are derived all 

* " Typhon, that is to say deluge, on account of the rains."— Typhon, 
pronounced touphon by the Greeks, is precisely the touplian of the 
Arabs, which signifies deluge: and all these deluges in mythol>gy are 
nothing more than winter and the rains, or the overflowing of the Nile ; 
as the pretendei' conflagrations that are to destroy the world, are simply 
the summer season. And it is for this reason that Aristotle, ae Aleteoris, 
lib I, c. J4, says, that the winter of the great cyclic year is a deluge, 
and its summer a conflagration. ' The Egyptians,' says Porphyry, 'em- 
ploy every year a talisman in remembrance of the world ; at the sum- 
mer solstice, they mark their houses, flocks, and trees with red, suppos- 
ing that on that day the whole world had been set on fire. It was also 
at the same period that they celebrated the pyrrhic or fire dance.' (And 
this illustrates the origin of purification by fire and water 5 for having 
denominated tlie tropjc of Cancer, gate of heaven and of heat or celestial 
fire, and that of Capricorn, gate of deluge or of water, it was imagined 
that the spirits or s-^'ils who passed through these gates in their way to 
and from heaven, vJ?re scorched or bathed ; hence the baptism of Mithra, 
and the passage through the flames, observed throughout the East long 
before Moses.) 

t" At a later period in Persia." — That is when the ram became the 
equinoctial sign, or rather when the alteration of the skies showed that 
it was no longer the bull. 



136 THE RUINS. 

religious acts of gaiety,* such as festivals, dances, banquets, offerings 
of flowers, milk, honey, perfumes, in a word, everything grateful to 
the senses and to the^oul. The evil God, on the contrary, received 
a worship of fear and pain, whence originated all religious acts of 
the gloomy sort,t tears, desolation, mourning, abstinence, bloody 
offerings and cruel sacrifices. 

" Hence arose that distinction of terrestrial beings into pure and 
impure, sacred and ."abominable, according as their species were of 
the number of the constellations of one of these two Gods, and made 
part of his domain ; and this produced on the one hand the supersti- 
tions concerning pollutions and purifications, and on the otlier tlie 
pretended efficacious virtues of amulets and talismans. 

" You conceive now," continued the orator, addressing himself 
to the Indians, Persians, Jews, Christians, and Mussulmen, " you 
conceive the origin of those ideas of battles and rebellions, which 
equally abound in all your mythologies. You see what is meant by 
white and black angels ; your cherubim and sei-aphim with heads of 
eagles, of lions and of bulls ; your deus, devils or demons with horns 
of goats and tails of serpents ; your thrones and dominions ranged in 
seven orders or gradations like the seven spheres of the planets ; all 
beings acting the same parts, and endowed with the same attributes 
in the vedas, bibles or zend-avestas, whether they have for chiefs 
Orm^zd or Brahma, Typhon or Chiven, Michael or Satan; wheth- 
er they appear under the form of giants witli a hundred arms and 
feet of serpents, or that of Gods metamorphosed into lions, storks, 

* " All religious acts of gaiety." — All the ancient festivals respecting 
the return and exaltation of the sun, were of this description ; hence 
the hHaria of the Roman calendar at the passage (pascha) of the vernal 
equinox. The dances were imitations of the march of the planets. 
Those of the Dervises still represent it to this day. 

f " All religious acts of the gloomy sort." — ' Sacrifices of blood,' says 
Porphyry, 'were only offered to demons and evil genii to avert their 
wrath.— Demons are fond of blood, humidity, stench.' (Apud Euseh., 
ProGp. Evang., p. 1. 73.) 

' The Egyptians,' says Plutarch, 'only offer bloody victims to Typhon 
They sacrifice to him a red ox ; and the victim is held in abhorrence, 
and loaded with all the sins of the people (the goat of Moses.) ' See 
de Iside et Osiride. 

" That distinction of terrestrial beings into sacred and aborftinable." — 
Strabo says, speaking of Moses and the Jews ; ' Circumcision and the 
prohibition of certain kinds of meat sprung from superstition. And I 
observe, respecting the ceremony of circumcision, that its object was to 
take from the symbol of Osiris (phallus) the pretended obstacle to fecun- 
dity ; an obstacle which bore the seal of Typhon, ' whose nature,' says 
Plutarch, 'is made up of all that hinders, opposes or obstructs.' 



THE RUINS. 137 

Dulls or cats, as in the sacred fables of the Greeks and Eg}'ptians ; 
you perceive thij successive filiation of these ideas, and how, in pro- 
portion to tlieir remoteness from Uieir source, and as the minds of 
men became refined, their gross forms have been polished, and ren- 
dered less disgusting. 

" But, in the same manner as you have seen the system of tvpo 
opposite principles or Gods arise from that of symbols, and inter- 
woven into its texture, your attention shall now be called to a. new 
system which has grown out of this, and to which this has served in 
its turn as a basis and support." 

V. Moral and mystical Worship^ or System of a future 
State. 

*' Indeed, when the vulgar heard speak of a new heaven and 
anotlier world, they soon gave a body to these fictions ; tliey erected 
tlierein a real theaU-e of action, and their notions of astronomy and 
geography served to strengthen, if not to originate tliis illusion. 

" On tlie one hand, the Phenician navigators who passed the pil- 
lars of Hercules to fetch the tin of Thule, and the amber of the Bal- 
tic, related that ait the extremity of the world, the end of the Ocean 
(the Mediterranean,)' where tJie sun sets for tlie countries of Asia, 
were the fortunate islands, tlie abode of eternal spring, and beyond 
were the Hyperborean regions, placed under the earth (relatively to 
the tropics,) where reigned an eternal night.* From these stories 
misunderstood, and no doubt confusedly related, the imagination of 
the people composed the Elysian fieldsjf regions of delight placed 
in a world below, having their heaven, their sun and their stars, and 
Tartarus, a place of darkness, humidity, mire and frost. Now, as 
man, inquisitive of that which he knows not, and desirous of protract- 
ing his existence, had abready interrogated himself concerning what 
was to become of him after his death, as he had early reasoned on 
the principle of life which animates his body, and which leaves it 
without deforming it, and as he bad imagined airy substances, phan- 
toms, and shades, he fondly believed that he should continue, in the 
subterranean world, tliat life which it was too painful for him to lose ; 

* Nights of six months. 

t Aliz, in the Phenician or Hebrew language, signifies dancing and 
rejoicing 

12* 



138 THE RUINS. 

and these lowe • regions seemed commodious for the reception of the 
beloved objects which he could not willingly resign. 

*' On tJie other hand, die astrological and geological priests" told 
such stories and made such descriptions of their heavens, as accorded 
perfectly well with these fictions. Having, in their metaphorical 
language, called the equinoxes and solstices, the gates of heaven, the 
entiance of the seasons, they explained the terrestrial phenomena 
by saying, ' that through the gate of horn (first the bull, afterwards 
the ram) and through tlie gate of cancer, descended the vivifying 
fires which give life to vegetation in the spring, and the aqueous 
spirits which bring, at the solstice, the inundation of the Nile; that 
tlirough the gate of ivory (libra, formerly Sagittarius or the bow) and 
by that of Capricorn or the urn, the emanations or influence:, of the 
heavens returned to their source, and reascended to their origin j and 
the milky way, which passed through these gates of the solstices, 
seemed to be placed there to serve them as a road or vehicle ; be- 
sides, in their atlas, the celestial scene presented a river (the Nile, 
designated by the v^indings of tJie hydra,) a boat (the ship Argo) and 
the dog Syrius, both relative to this river, whose inundation they 
foretold. These circumstances, added to the preceding and still far- 
ther explaining them, increased their probability, and to arrive at 
Tartarus or Elysium, souLs were obliged to cross the rivers Styx and 
Acheron in the boat of the ferryman Caron, and to pass through the 
gates of horn or ivory, guarded by the dog Cerberus. Finally, these 
inventions were applied to a civil use, and tliehce received a farther 
consistency. 

" Having remarked that in their burning climate, the putrefaction 
of dead bodies was a cause of pestilential diseases, the Egyptians in 
many of their towns had adopted the practice of burying their dead 
beyond the limits of the iniiabited country, in the desert ol tlie West. 
To go there, it was necessary to pass the channelo of the river, and 
consequently to be received into a boat, and pay something to the 
ferryman, without which, the body deprived of sepultiu-e, must have 
been the prey of wild beasts. This custom suggested to the civil and 
religious legislators the means of a powerful influence on manners; 
and, addressing uncultivated and ferocious men with the motives of 
filial piety and a reverence for the dead, they established as a necej- 
eary condition, their undergoing a previous trial, which should decide 
whether tlie deceased merited to be admitted to the rank of the fami- 



THE RUINS. 139 

ly in the black city. Such an idea accorded too well with all the 
others not to be incorporated with tliem ; the people soon adopted it, 
and hell had its Minos and its Rhadamanthus, with the wand, tlie 
bench, the ushers and the urn, as in the earthly and civil state. It 
was tlien tliat god became a moral and political being, a social leg- 
islator so much the more formidable, as this supreme legislator, this 
final judge was inaccessible and invisible : then it was that this fab- 
ulous and mythological world, composed of such odd materials and 
disjointed members, became a place of punishments and of rewards, 
where divine justice was supposed to correct what was vicious and 
erroneous in the judgment of men ; and this spiritual and mystical 
system acquired the more credit, as it took possession of man by all 
his natural inclinations : the oppressed found in it the hope of in- 
demnity, and the consolation of future vengeance, the oppressor, ex- 
pecting by rich offerings to purchase his impunity, formed out of the 
errors of die vu'gar an additional weapon of oppression; the chiefs 
of nations, the kings and priests found in this a new instrument of 
domination, by the privilege which they reserved to themselves of 
distributing the favors and piuiishments of the great judge, according 
to the merit or demerit of actions, which they took care to charac- 
terize as best suited their system. 

" This ttien is the manner in which an invisible and imaginary 
world has been introduced into the real and visible one ; this is the 
origin of those regions of pleasure and pain, of which you Persians 
have made your regenerated earth, your city of resurrection placed 
nnder the equator, with this singular attribute, that in it the blessed 
cast no shade.* Of these materials, Jews and Christians, disciples 

* " The blessed cast no shade." — There is on this subject a passage in 
Plutarch so interesting and explanatory of the whole of this system, 
that we shall cite it entire ; having observed that the theory of good and 
evil had at all times occupied the atteutior. of naturalists and theologians, 
he adds: ' Many suppose there are two gods of opposite inclinations, 
one delighting in good, the other in evil ; the first of these is called 
particularly by the name of God, the second by that of Genius or Demon. 
Zoroaster has denominated them Oromaze and Ahrimanes, and has 
said that of whatever falls under the cognizance of om- senses, light is 
the best representative of the one^ and darkness and ignorance of the 
other. He adds that Mithra is an mtermediate being, and it is for this 
reason that the Persians call Mithra the Mediator or intercessor. Each 
of these gods has distinct plants and animals consecrated to him 5 for 
instance, dogs, birds, and hedgehogs belong to the good Genius ; and all 
aquatic animals to the evil one. 

' The Persians also say that Oromaze was born or formed out of the 
purest light ; Ahrimanes, on the contrary, out of the thickest darkness : 
that Oromaze made six gods as good as himself, and Ahrimanes opposea 



140 THE RUINS, 

of tlie Persians, have you formed your Jerusalem of the apocalypse, 
your paradise, your heaven, copied in all its parts from the astrolog- 
ical heaven of Hermes : and your hell, ye Mussulmen ! your bottom- 
less p. it, surmounted by a bridge j your balance for weighing souls 
and their works, your last judgment by the augels Monkir and Ne- 
kir, are likewise modelled from the mysterious ceremonies of the 
cave of Mithra ; * and your heaven differs not in the least from tliat 
of Osiris, of Ormuzd and of Brahma." 

to them six wicked ones. That afterwards Oromaze trebled himself 
(Hermes tris-megistus,) and removed to a distance as remote from the 
earth ; that he there formed stars, and among others, Syrius, which he 
placed in tha heavens as a guard and sentinel. He made also twenty- 
four other gods whom he inclosed in an egg ; but Ahrimanes created an 
equal number who cracked the egg, and from that moment good and 
evil were mixed (in the universe.) But Ahrimanes is one day to be 
conquered, and the earth to be made equal and smooth, that all men 
may live happy. 

< Theopompus adds, from the books of the magi, that one of these 
gods reigns in turn every three thousand years, during which the other 
is kept in subjection : that they afterwards contend with equal weapons 
during the same space of time, but that in the end the evil Genius will 
fall (never to rise again.) Then men will become happy, and shall 
have no shadow. But the god who meditates all these things recMnes 
at present in repose, waiting to meet them.' (De Iside et Osiride.) 

The allegory is evident through the whole of this passage. The egg 
is the sphere of fixed stars, the world : the six gods of Oromaze are the 
six signs of summer ; those of Ahrimanes tiie six signs of winter. The 
forty-eight other gods are the forty -eight constellations of the ancient 
sphere^ divided equally between Ahrimanes and Oromaze. The office 
of Syrms as guard and sentinel, tells us that the origin of these ideas 
was Egyptian ; finally, the expression that the earth is to become equal 
and smooth and that the bodies of the happy shall cast no shadow, 
proves that the equator was considered as their true paradise. 

*"The ceremonies of the cave of Mithra." — In the factitious caves 
which priests everywhere constructed, they celebrated mysteries which 
consisted, says Origen against Celsus, in imitating the motion of the 
stars, the planets and the heavens. The initiated took the name of con- 
stellations, and assumed the figure of animals. One was a lion, anothei a 
raven, and a third a ram. Hence the use of masks in the first represen- 
tation of the drama. See Antiq. devoilee, vol. 11. p. -244. In the mys- 
teries of Ceres, the chief in the procession called himself the creator; 
the torch-bearer was denominated the Sun ; the person nearest to the 
altar, the Moon ; the herald or deacon, Mercury. In Egypt, there was a 
festival in which men and women represented the year, the century, 
the seasons, the divisions of the day, and they followed the procession 
of Bacchus. Athen. lib. v. c. 7. In the cave of Mithra was a ladder 
with' seven steps, representing the seven spheres of the planets, by 
means of which souls ascended and descended : this is precisely the lad- 
der in Jacob's vision ; which shows that at that epoch, the whole system 
was formed. There is in the royal library a superb volume of pictures 
of the Indian gods, in which the ladder is represented with the souls of 
men ascending it, last plate. 

See Bailly's ancient astronomy, where our assertions respecting the 
knowledge of the priests are fully proved. 



THE RUINS. 141 

VI. Sixth System. The Animated World or Worship of the 
Universe under diverse Emblems. 

" While the nations were wandering in the dark labyrinth of my- 
thology and failles, the physical priests, pursuing their studies and 
inquiries into the order and disposition of the universe, came to new 
conclusions, and formed new systems concerning powers and first 



" Long confined to simple appearances, they saw nothing in the 
movement of the stars but an unknown play of luminous bodies roll- 
ing round the earth, which they believed the central point of all the 
spheres ; but as soon as they discovered the rotundity of our planet, 
the consequences of this first fact led them to new considerations ; 
and from induction to induction, tliey rose to the highest conceptions 
in astronomy and physics. 

** Indeed, after having conceived this luminious idea, that the ter- 
restrial globe is a little circle inscribed in tlie greater circle of the 
heavens, the tlieory of concentric circles served naturally in their hy- 
pothesis, to determine the unknown circle of the terrestrial globe by 
certain known points of the celestral circle; and the measurement ot 
one or more degrees of the meridian gave with precision the whole 
circumference. Then, taking for a compass the known diameter of 
the earth, some fortunate genius applied it with a bold hand to the 
boundless orbits of the heavens ; and man, the inhabitant of a grain 
of sand, embracing the infinite distances of the stars, launched into 
the immensity of space and the eternity of time : there he is present- 
ed with a new order of the universe ; of which the atom-globe which 
he inhabited appeared no longer to be the centre : this important 
post was reserved to the enormous mass of the sun ; and that body 
became the flaming pivot of eight surrounding spheres, whose move- 
ments were henceforth subjected to precise calculation. 

" It was already a great effort of the human mind to have under- 
taken to determine the disposition and order of the great engines of 
nature; but not stopping there, it still endeavoured to develope the me- 
chanism, and discover the origin and the instinctive principle ; hence, 
engaged in the abstract and metaphysical nature of motion and its 
first cause, of the inherent or incidental properties of matter, its suc- 
cessive forms and its extension, that is to say, of time and space un- 
bounded, tlie physical theologians lost themselves in a chaos of sub- 
tle reasoning and scholastic controversy. 



142 THE RUINS. 

*' In the first place, the action of the sun on terrestrial bodies teach* 
ing them to regard his substance as a pure and elementary fire, they 
made it the focus and reservoir of an ocean of igneous and luminous 
fluid, which, under the name of ether, filled tlie universe and noiu*- 
ished all beings. Afterwards, having discovered by a physical and 
attentive analysis, tliis same fire, or another perfectly resembling it, 
in the composition of all bodies, and having perceived it to be the es- 
sential agent of that spontaneous movement which is called life in 
animals, and vegetation in plants, they conceived the mechanism and 
harmony of the universe as of a homogeneous whole, of one identical 
body, whose parts, though distant, had nevertheless an intimate rela- 
tion ;* and the world was a living being, animated by the organic 
circulation of an ingneous and even electrical fluid,t which by a 
term of comparison borrowed fii'st from men and animals, had the sun 
for a heart or focus. :{: 

" From this time the physical theologians seem to have divided 
into several classes ; one class, grounding itself on these principles 
resulting from observation, ' that nothing can be annihilated in tlie 
world ; that the elements are indestructible ; that they change their 
combinations but not their nature ; that the life and death of beings 
are but the different modifications of the same atoms ; that matter 
J itself possesses properties which give rise to all its modes of existence; 
that the world is eternal, or unlimited in space and duration ;* said, 
• that the whole universe was God ;' and according to them, God was 
a being, effect and cause, agent and patient, moving principle and 
tiling moved, having for laws tlie invariable properties that consti- 

* " Whose parts had an intimate relation." — These are the yery 
words of" Jamblicus. De Myst. ^gypt. 

t " An igneous and electrical fluid."— The mOre I consider what the 
ancients understood by ether and spirit, and what the Indians call 
akache, the stronger do I find the analogy between it and the electrical 
fluid. A luminous fluid, principle of warmth and motion, pervading 
the universe, forming the matter of the stars, having small round parti- 
cles, which insinuating themselves into bodies fill them by dilating it- 
self, be their extent what it may : what can more strongly resemble 
electricity ? 

X " Heart or focus." — Natural philosophers, says Macrobius, call the 
sun the heart of the world, c. 20, som. Scip. The Egyptians, says Plu- 
tarch, call the East the face, the North the right side, and the South the 
left of the world, ' because there the heart is placed ;' they continually 
compare the universe to a man, and lience the celebrated Microcosm of 
the alchymists. We observe, by the by, that the alchymists, cabalists, 
freemasons, magnetizers, martinists and all other such visionaries, are 
but the erring disciples of this ancient school. Consult likewise the 
Pythagorean Ocellus LucanUs, and the iEdipus ^gyptiacus of Kirker 
t. II, p. 905. 



THE RUINS. 142> 

tute fatality j and this class conveyed tlieir idea by the emblem of 
Pan (the Great Whole,) or of Jupiter with a forehead of stars, body 
of planets, and feet of animals, or of tlie orphic egg, whose yolk, sus- 
pended in the centre of a liquid surrounded by a vault, represented 
the globe of the sun, swimming in ether in the midst of the vault of 
heaven ; * sometimes by a great round serpent, representing the heav- 
ens where they placed the moving principle, and for that reason of 
an azure color, studded with golden spots (the stars,) devouring his 
tail, that is, folding and unfolding himself eternally like the revolu- 
tions of the spheres ; sometimes by that of a man, having his feet 
joined together and tied, to signify immutable existence ; wrapped in 
a cloak of all colors, like the face of nature, and bearing on his head 
a golden sphere ,t emblem of the sphere of the stars ; or by tliat of 
another man, sometimes seated on the flower of the lotos borne on 
the abyss of waters, sometimes lying on a pile of twelve cushions, de- 
noting the twelve celestial signs. And here, Indians, Japanese, Si- 
amese, Tibetans, and Chinese, is the tlieology which, founded by the 
Egyptians and transmitted to you, is preserved in the pictures which 
you compose of Brahma, of Beddou, of Soramonacodom, of Omito ; 
this, ye Hebrews and Christians, is likewise the opinion of which 
you have preserved a part in your God, moving on the face of the 
waters, by an allusion to the wind, which, at the beginning of tlie 
world, tliat is, tlie departure of the spheres from the sign of cancer, 
announced the inundation of the Nile, and seemed to prepare the 
creation." 

* " In ether in the midst of the vault of heaven."— This comparison 
with the yolk of an egg refers, 1st. to its round and yellow figure : 2d. 
to its central situation ; 3d. to the germ or principle of life contained in 
the yolk. May not the oval form allude to the ellipsis of the orbits ? I 
am inclined to this opinion. The word orphic offers a farther observa- 
tion. Macrobius says (Som. Scip., c. 14, and c. 20) that the sun is the 
brain of the universe, and that it is from analogy that the human skull 
is round, like the planet, the seat of intelligence : now, the word cerph 
(by ain) signifies in Hebrew the brain and its seat (cervix ;) Orpheus, 
then, is the same as Bedou or Baites ; and the Bonzes are those very 
Orphic? represented by Plutarch as quacks, who eat no meat, sold talis- 
mans, stones, etc., and*deceived not only individuals but the govern- 
ments. See a learned Memoir of Freret, sur les Orphiques, Acad, dea 
Inscrip,, tom. xxiii. in 4to. 

t " On his head a golden sphere."— See Porphyry, in Eusebius, Prce- 
j>ar. Evang., lib. iii, p. 115. 



1 44 THE RUINS. 

VII. Seventh System. Worship of the Soul of the World, 
that is to say, the Element of Fire, vital Principle of the 
Universe. 

■ " But others, disgusted at the idea of a being at once effect and 
cause, agent and patient, and uniting contrary natures in the same 
nature, distinguished the moving principle from the thing moved; 
and premising that matter in itself was inert, they pretended that its 
properties were communicated to it by a distinct agent, of which it 
was itself only the cover or the case. Tliis agent was called by some 
the igneous principle, known to be the author of all motion ; by others 
it was supposed to be the fluid called ether, which was thought more 
active and subtile ; and,- as in animals the vital and moving principle 
was called a soul, a spirit, and as they reasoned constantly by com- 
parisons, especially those drawn from human beings, they gave to the 
moving principle of the universe the name of soul, intelligence, spir- 
it I and God was the vital spirit which extended through all beings 
and animated the vast body of the world. And this class conveyed 
their idea sometimes by You-piter, essence of motion and animation, 
principle of existence, or rather existence itself; sometimes by Vul- 
can or Phtha, elementary principle of fire, or by the altar of Vesta, 
placed in the centre of her temple, like'the sun amidst tlie spheres ; 
sometimes by Kneph, a human figure dressed in dark blue, having 
in one hand a sceptre and a girdle (the Zodiac,) with a cap of feath- 
ers, to express the fugacity of thought, and producing from his mouth 
the great egg. 

" Now, as a consequence of this system, every being containing 
in itself a portion of the igneous and etherial fluid, common and uni- 
versal mover; and this fluid, soul of the world, being the Divinity, it 
followed that the souls of all beings were a portion of God himself, 
partaking of all his attributes, that is, being a substance indivisible, 
simple and immortal; and hence the whole system of the immortality 
of the soul,* Avhich at first was eternity. Hence also its trangmigra- 

* " Hence the whole system of the immortalitj' of the soul."— In the 
system of the first spiritualists, the soul was not created with, or at the 
same time as the body, in order to be inserted in it : it existed anteriorly 
and from all eternity. Such, in a few words, is the doctrine of Macro- 
bius on this head. Om. 8cip. Spassim. 

' There exists a luminous, igneous, subtile fluid, which under the 
name of ether and spiritus, fills the universe ; it is the essential principle 
and agent of motion and life ; it is the deity. When an earthly body is 
to be animated, a small round particle of this fluid gravitates through 
the milky way toward.-; the lunar spJiere ; where, when it arrives, il 



THE RUINS. 146 

tions, known by the name of metcmpsj'chosis, that is, the passage of 
the vital prljiciple from one bocJy to another ; an idea wljich arose 
from the real transmigration of the material elements. And beliohl, 
ye Indians, Boudliists, Christians, and M'..ssuimen ! whence are de- 
rived all your opinions on tlie spirituality of the soul; behold what 
w^as the source of the dreams of Pythagoras and Plato, your masters, 
wlio were themselves but the echoes of another, the last sect of vis- 
ionary philosophers, which we will proceed to examine." 

VIII. Eighth System. The World-Machine : Worship of 
the Demi-Ourgos or grand Artificer. 

' Hitherto the theologians, employing themselves in examining tlie 
fine and subtile substances of ether or the generating fire, had not 

unites with a grosser air, and becomes fit to associate with matter : it 
then enters and entirely fills the body, animates it, suffers, grows, in- 
creases and diminishes with it ; lastly, when the body dies, and its 
gross elements dissolve, this incorruptible particle quits it, and returns 
to the grand ocean of ether, if not retained by its union Avtth the lunar 
air ; it is this air (or gas) which, retaining the shape of the body, be- 
comes a phantom or shade, the perfect image of the deceased. The 
Greeks called this shade the image or idol of the soul ; the Pythagoreans, 
its chariot, its mould : and the rabbinical school, its vehicle, or boat. 
When a man had conducted himself well in this worlds this entire soul, 
that is its chariot and ether, ascended to the moon, where a separation 
took place ; the chariot lived in the lunar elysium, and the. ether re- 
turned to the fixed stars, that is to God ; for, says Macrobius, the heav- 
en of the fixed stars was by many called God.' (c. 14.) 

If a man had not lived virtuously, the soul remained on earth to be 
purified, and wandered to and fro, like the shades of Homer, to whom 
this doctrine must have been known in Asia, three centuries before 
Pherecides and Pythagoras had revived it In Greece. Herodotus upon 
this occasion says, that the whole romance of the soul and its transmi- 
grations was invented by the Egyptians, and propagated in Greece by 
men, who pretended to he its authors. I know their names, adds he, 
but shall not mention them, (lib ii.) Cicero, however, has positively in- 
formed us, that it was Pherecides, master of Pythagoras. (Tuscul. lib. 
I. § 16.) In Syria and in Judea, we fi«d a palpable proof of its existence, 
five centuries before Pythagoras, in this phrase of Solomon, where he 
says: ' Who knoweth the spirit of a man that it goeth upwards.' I 
said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God 
might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are 
beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts ; 
even one thing befalleth them ; as the one dieth, so dieth the other ; 
yea they have all one breath, so that a man hath no preeminence above 
a beast : for all is vanity.' Eccles. c. ni. v. IL 

And such had been the opinion of Moses, as has been justly observed 
by the translator of Herodotus (Larcher, in his first edition, note 389 of 
Look II,) where he says also that the immortality of the soul was not 
introduced among the Hebrews till their intercourse with the Assyrians. 
In otlier respects, the whole Pythagorean system, properly analyzed, 
appears to b« merely a system of physics misunderstood. 
18 



146 THE RUINS. 

however ceased to treat of beings palpable and perceptible to 
the senses, and theology continued to be the theory of physical pow- 
ers, placed sometimes exclusively in the stars, and sometimes dissemi- 
nated through the universe; but at this period, certain superficial 
minds, losing the chain of ideas which had directed them in their pro- 
found studies, or ignorant of the facts on which they were founded, 
distorted all the conclusions that flowed from them by the introduc- 
tion of a strange and novel chimera. They pretended that this uni- 
verse, these heavens, these stars, this sun, were only a machine of an 
ordinary kind j and applying to this first hypothesis a comparison 
drawn from the works of art, they raised an edifice of the most whim- 
sical sophisms. *A machine,* said they, ' does not make itself; it has 
had an anterior workman, its very existence proves it. The world 
is a machine : therefore it had an artificer.' 

" Here then is the demi-ourgos or grand aitificer, constituted god 
autocratical and supreme. In vain the ancient philosophy objected 
to this by saying that the artificer himself must have had parents and 
progenitors, and that tney only added another link to the chain by 
taking eternity from the world and giving it to its supposed author 
The innovators, not content with this first paradox, passed on to a 
second ; and, applying to their artificer tlie theory of tlie human un- 
derstanding, they pretended that the demi-ourgos had framed his ma- 
chine on a plan preexisting in his understanding. Now, as their 
masters, the naturalists, had placed in the regions of the fixed stars 
the great primum mobile, under the name of intelligence and reason, 
so their mimics, the ipiritualists, seiring tliis idea, applied it to their 
demi-ourgos, and making it a substance distinct and self-existent, 
they called it mens or logos (reason or word.) And as they like- 
wise admitted the existence of the soul of the world, or solar princi- 
ple, they found tliemselves obliged to compose three ranks or grada- 
tions of divine beings, which were, 1st. the demi-ourgos, or working 
god; 2dly. the logos, word or reason, and 3dly. the spirit or soul (of 
the world.) And here. Christians ! is the romance on which you 
have founded your Trinity ; here is the system which, bom a heretic 
in the temples of Egypt, transported a pagan into the schools of Italy 
and Greece, is now found to be catholic and orthodox, by the conver- 
sion of its partisans, tlie disciples of Pythagoras and Plato, to Chris- 
tianity. 

" It is thus that the Divinity, after having been first the visible 
and various action of tlie meteors and elements ; 



THE RUINS. 14t 

" Afterwards, the combined powers of the stars considered in their 
lelations to terrestrial beings; 

" After, these terrestrial beings themselves, by confounding the 
symbols with their archetypes ; 

" Next, the double power of nature in its two principal operationd 
of producing and destroying ; 

"Again, the animated world, without distinction of agent and pa 
tient, of effect and cause ; 

" Finally, the solar principle, or the element of fire considered as 
the only mover ; 

" It is thus that the Divinity is become, in the last resort, a chim- 
erical and abstract being ; a scholastic subtilty, of substance without 
form, a body without a figure ; a very delirium of tl»e mind, beyond 
the power of reason to comprehend. But vainly does it seek in this 
last transformation to illude the senses ; the seal of its origin is too 
deeply imprinted on it to be effaced ; and its attributes, all borrow- 
ed from the physical attributes of the universe, such as immensity, 
eternity, indivisibility, incomprehensibility ; or on the moral affec- 
tions of man, such as goodness, justice, majesty, etc. ; its names* 
even, all derived from the physical beings which were its types, and 

* " Its names even, all derived."— When analyzed, all the names of the 
deity seem to be derived from some material object in which it was sup- 
posed to reside. We have given many instances ; let us add one more 
relative to our word God. This is the deus of the Latins, which is but 
the theos of the Greeks. Now, by the confession of Plato (in Cratylo,) 
of Macrobius, (Saturn., lib. 1, c. 24,) and of Plutarch (Isis et Osiris,) its 
root is thein, which signifies to wander, like planein : that is to say, it 
is synonymous with planets, because, add our authors, both the ancient 
Greeks and Barbarians particularly worshipped the planets. I know 
that such inquiries into etymologies have been much decried ; but if, as 
is the case, words are the representative signs of ideas, the genealogy 
of the one becomes that of the other, and a good etymological dictionary 
would be the most perfect history of the human understanding. It 
would only be necessary to observe certain precautions in this inquiry, 
which have hitherto been neglected, and particularly to make an exact 
comparison of the value of the letters of the different alphabets. But, 
to continue our subject, we shall add that in the Phenician language, 
the word thah (with ain) signifies also to wander, and from it thein 
seems to be derived : if we suppose deus to be derived from the Greek 
Zeus, a proper name of Youpiter, having Zaw, I live, for its root, its 
sense will be precisely that of you, and will mean soul of the world, 
igneous principle. Div-us, which only signifies Genius, God of the sec- 
ond order, appears to me to come from the oriental word div for dib, 
wolf and jackal, one of the emblems of the sun. At Thebes, s.ays Ma- 
crobius, the sun was painted under the form of a wolf or jackal (for 
there are no wolves in Egypt.) The reason of this emblem, doubtless, 
is that the jackal, like the cock, announces by its cries the rising of the 
sun ; and this reason is confirmed by the analogy of the words lykos, 
wolf, and lyke, light of the morning, whence comes lux. , 



148 THE RUINS. 

especially from the sun, the planets and the world, constantly bring to 
mind, in spjte of its corrupters, indelible marks of its real nature. 
" Such is the chain of ideas which the human mind had already 
run through at an epocli previous to die records of histoi-y : and since 
their continuity proves that they were the produce of the same series 
of studies and labors, we have every reason to place their origin 
in Egypt, the cradle of their first elements : and their progress there 
may have been rapid ; because the idle curiosity of the physical 
priests had no other food, in the retirement of the temples, but the 
enigma of the universe always present to their muids j and because 
in tlie political districts into which that country was for a long time 
divided, every State had its college of priests, who, being by turns 
auxiliaries or rivals, hastened by their disputes, the progress of 
science and discovery.* 

Dins, which is to be understood also of the sun, must he derived from 
dih, a hawk. ' The Egyptians,' says Porphyry (Euseb. Praep. Evang.- 
p. 99,) ' represent the sun under the emblem of a hawk, because this 
bird soars to the highest regions of air where light abounds.' And in 
reality we continually see at Cairo thousands of these birds, hovering in 
the air, from whence they descend only to stun us with their shrieks, 
which are like the monosyllable dih : and here, as in the preceding ex- 
ample, we find an analogy between the word dies, day, light, and dius, 
god, sun. 

■ * " Hastened by their disputes the progress of science and discovery." — 
A most plausible proof that all these systems were invented in Egypt, is 
that this is the only country where we see a complete body of doctrine 
formed from the remotest antiquity. 

Clemens Alexandrkius has transmitted to us (Stromat. lib. vi.) a 
curious detail of the 42 volumes which were borne in the procession of 
Isis. ' The leader,' said he, ' or chanter, carries one of the symbolic in- 
struments of music, and two of the books of Mercury, one containing 
hymns of the gods, the other the list of kings. Next to him the horoscope 
(calculator of time) carries a palm and a dial, symbols of astrology ; he 
must know by heart the four books of Mercury which treat of astrology, 
the first on the order of the planets, the second on the risings of the sun 
and moon, and the two last on the rising And aspect of the stars. Then 
comes the sacred writer, with feathers on his head (like Kneph) and a 
book in his hand, together with ink and a reed to write with (as is still 
the practice among the Arabs;) He must be versed in Hieroglyphics, 
must understand the description of the universe, the course of the sun, 
moon, and planets ; be acquainted with the division of Egypt (into 36 
names,) with the course of the Nile, with instruments, measures, sacred 
ornaments and holy places, etc. Next comes the Stole-bearer, carrying 
the cubit of justice or measure of the Nile, and a chalice for the libations : 
ten volumes treat of the sacrifices, hymns, prayers, offerings, ceremo- 
nies, festivals. Lastly arrives the prophet, bearing in his bosom and ex- 
posed to view a pitcher •, he is followed by persons carrying loSVes of 
bread (as at the marriage of Cana.) This prophet, as president of the 
mysteries, learns ten (other) sa«red volumes concerning the laws, the 
gods, and the discipline of the priests, etc. Now there are in all forty- 
two volumes, thirty-six of which are learned by these personages, and 



THE RUINS. 149 

"There happenea already on the borders ot' the Nile, wnat has 
since oeen reoeated m evei-y coiinti*v ; as soon as a new system was 
formed, its novelty exciiea ouarrels and scnisms ; llien, gaming 
credit bv persecution itself, sometimes it effaced antecedent ideas, 
sometimes it modified and incorfiorated tnem ; then by the inter- 
vention of political revolutions, the aggregation of Slates and the 
mixture of nations confused all opinions : and the filiation of ideas be- 
ing lost, theology fell into a chaos, and became a mere logogriphe of 
old traditions no longer understood. Religion, having strayed from 
i'ts object, was now nothing more than a political engine to conduct 
tlie credulous vulgar, and it was used for this purpose, sometimes, by 
men, credulous themselves and dupes of tlieir own visions, and some- 
times by bold and energetic spirits in pursuit of great objects ot am 
bition." 

IX. Religion of Moses, or Worship of the Soul of the World 
( You-piter.) 

" Such was the legislator of the Hebrews, who, wishing to sepa- 
rate his nation from all others, and to form a distinct and solitaiy 
empire, conceived the design of establishing its basis on religious 
prejudices, and of raising aromid it a sacred rampart of opinions and 
of rites. But in vain did he proscribe the worship of the symbols 
which prevailed in lower Egypt and Phanicia; his god was never- 
tlieless an Egyptian god,* invented by diose priests of whom Moses 

the remaining six are reserved for the pastophores ; they treat of medi- 
cine, the construction of the human body (anatomy,) diseases, remedies, 
instruments, etc' 

W'e leave the reader to deduce all the consequences of such an ency- 
clopedia. It was ascribed to Mercury : but Jamblicus tel|s us that all 
books composed by the priests were ded.cated to that God, who, being a 
Genius or decdn opening the zodiac, presided over enterprise ; he is the 
Janus of v.ie Romans, the Guianese of the Indians, and it is reiiiarkabre 
that Yanus and Guianes are synonymous. In short, it appears that these 
books are the source of all that has been transmitted to us by the Greeks 
and Latins in every science, even in alchymy, necromancy, etc. What 
is most to be refrretted in their loss is that part which related to the prin- 
ciples of medicine and diet, in which tiie Egyptians ajtpear to have made 
a considerable progress and useful observations. 

* ''Tlis god was nevertheless an Egyptian sod."— 'At a certain period,' 
says Plutarch, [dfelside] 'all the Egyptians have their animal gods paint- 
ed. The Thebans are the only people who do not employ painters, 
because they worship a god whose form comes not under the senses and 
cannot be represented.' And this is the god whom Moses, educated at 
Heliopolis, adopted, but the idea was not of his invention. 
13^ 



150 THE RUINS. 

had been the disciple j and Yahouh, betrayed by its very name,* es- 
sence (of beings,) and by its symbol, the bmning bush, is only the 
soul of the world, the moving principle which the Greeks soon after 

* "And Yahouh betrayed by its very name." — Such is the true pronun- 
ciation of the Jehovah of the moderns, who violate, in this respect, every 
rule of criticism, since it is evident that the ancients, particularly the 
eastern Syrians and Phenicians were acquainted neither with the J. nor 
the V. borrowed from the Tartars. The subsisting usage of the Arabs, 
which we have reestablished here, is confirmed by Diodorus, who calls 
the God of Moses law [lib. [. :] and law and lahouh are manifestly the 
same word: the identity continues in that of loupiter ; but in order to 
render it more complete, we shall demonstrate the signification to be 
the same. 

In Hebrew, that is to say, in one of the dialects of the common lan- 
guage of lower Asia, the word Yahouh is equivalent to our periphrasis 
he who is, the being that exists, in other words, the principle of life, 
the mover or even motion [the universal soul of beings.] Now what 
is Jupiter .? Let us hear the Greeks and Latins explain their theology : 
' The Egyptians, says Diodorus, after Manetho, priest of Memphis, the 
Egyptians, assigning names to the five elements, called spirit [or ether] 
Youpiter, on account of the true meaning of that word ; for spirit is the 
source of life, author of the vital principle in animals ; and for this rea- 
son they considered him as the father, the generator of beings.' For 
the same reason. Homer says, father and king of men and gods. [Diod 
lib. I. sect. 1.] 

Theologians, says Macrobius, consider Youpiter as the soul of the 
world ; hence the words of Virgil : Muses, let us begin with Youpiter: 
the world is full of Youpiter [Somn. Scip. c. 17;] and in the Saturnalia, 
he says : Jupiter is the sun himself: It was this also which made Virgil 
say: 'The spirit nourishes the life [of beings,] and the soul diffused 
thrmigh the vast members [of the universe] agitates the whole mass and 
forms but one immense body.' 

'loupiter,' say the very ancient verses of the Orphic sect, which 
originated in Egypt, verses collected by Onomacritus, in the days of Pis- 
istratus, ' loupitet, represented with the thunder in his hand, is the be- 
ginning, origin, end and middle of all things : a single and universal 
power, he governs all, heaven, earth, fire, water, the elements, day 
and night. Tliese are what constitute his immense body ; his eyes are 
the sun a;'d moon ; he is space and eternity : in fine, adds Porphyry, Ju- 
piter is the world, the universe, that which constitutes the existence and 
life of all beings. Now, continues the same author, as philosophers dif- 
fered in opinion respecting the nature and constituent parts of this God, 
and as they could invent no figure that could represent all his attributes, 
they paiuted him in the form of a man. He is in a sitting p( sture, in 
allusion to his immutable essence ; the upper part of his body is uncov- 
ered, because it is in the upper regions of the universe [the stars,] that 
he is most conspicuous. He is covered from the waist downwards, be- 
cause respecting terrestrial things he is more mysterious. He holds a 
sceptre in his left hand because it is the side of the heart, and the heart 
is the seat of the understanding, which, [in human beings] regulates 
every action.' [Euseb. Prspar. Evang. p. 100.] 

The following passage of the geographer a:id philosopher, Strabo, re- 
moves every doubt as to the identity of the ideas of Moses and those of 
the heathen theologians. 

' Moses, who was one of the Egyptian Priests, taught that it was a 
monstrous error to represent the deity under the form of animals, as the 
Egyptians did, or in the shape of men, as was the practice of tbeOreeks 



THE RUINS. 151 

adopted under the same denomination in their You-piter, generating 
being ; and under tliat of Ei,* existence, which the Thebeans conse- 
crated by tlie name of Kneph ; which Sais worshipped under the em- 
blem of Isis veiled, with this inscription : I am all that has been, 
that is, and tliat shall be, and no mortal has raised my veil ; which 
Pythagoras honored under the name of Vesta, and which the stoic 
pliilosophy defined precisely by calling it the principle of fire. In 
vain did Moses wish to blot from his religion everything which had 
relation to the stai-s ; many traits call them to mind in spite of all he 
has done ; the seven luminaries or planets of the great candlestick, 
the twelve stones or signs in the urim of the high priest, the feast of 
the two equinoxes, entrances and gates of the two hemispheres, the 
ceremony of the lamb or celestial ram ; lastly the name even of Osi- 
risf preserved in his canticle, and the ark or coffer, an imitation of 
the tomb in which that god was laid, all remain aa so many wit- 
nesses of the filiation of his ideas, and of their derivation from the 
common source." 

X. Religion of Zoroaster. 

" Such also was Zoroaster, who, two centuries after Moses, re- 
vived and moralised among the Medec and Bacti'ians the whole Egyp- 

and Africans ; that alone is the deity, said he, which constitutes heav- 
en, earth and being ; that which we call the world, the ssim of all things, 
nature ; and no reasonable person will think of representing such a be- 
ing by the image of any one of the objects around us j it is for this rea- 
son, that, rejecting every species of images [idols,] Moses wished the 
Deify to be worshipped without emblems, and according to his proper 
nature ; and he accordingly ordered a temple worthy of him to be erect- 
ed, etc' Geograph. lib. xVi, page 1104, edit, of 1707. 

The theology of Moses has therefore differed In no respect from that 
of the worshippers of the »ouJ of tho world, that is, from the Stoics and 
Epicureans. 

As to the history of Moses, Diodorus properly represents it when he 
says, lib. xxxi v and xl, ' that the Jews were driven out of Egypt dur- 
ing a famine, when the country was full of foreigners, and that Moses, 
a man of extraordinary prudence and courage, seized this opportunity 
of establishing his nation in the mountains of Judea.' As to 600,000 
armed men, whom Exodus gives him, it is an error of the transcribers, 
the proof of which, taken from the books themselves, is to be found in 
the 1st vol. of New Researches on ancient History, page 162, and fol- 
lowing. 

* "Under that of Ei."— This was the monosyllable written on the 
gate of the temple of Delphos. Plutarch has made it the subject of a 
dissertation. 

■f " The name even of Osiris." — It is expressly mentioned in Deuteron- 
omy, chap. 32. 'The works of Tsour are perfect.' Now Tsour has 
been translated by the word creator ; its proper signification is to give 
forms ; and this is one of the definitions of Osiris in Plutarch. 



152 THE RUINS. 

tian system of Osiris and Typhon, under the names of Ormuzd and 
Alirimanes ; who, to explain the system of nature, supposed two 
great gods or powers, one occupied in creating and producing, in an 
empire of light and genial heat (represented by summer,) and there- 
fore, god of science, beneficence and virtue ; the other occupied in 
destroying, in an empire of darkness and cold (represented by the 
pole of winter,) and therefore god of ignorance, malevolence and 
sin : who, by figurative expressions, afterwards misunderstood, cal- 
led creation of the world the renewal of nature in spring j called res- 
urrection the renewal of Hhe periods of die stars in their conjunc- 
tions ; future life, hell and paradise, what was only tlie Tartania 
and Elysium of die astrologers and geographers ; in a word, he did 
notlii^ but consecrate the preexisting dreams of tlie mystical sys- 
tem." 

f XI. BrahmUm, or Indian System. 

" And such too was tlie Indian legislator, who under the name of 
Menou, nreceded Zoroaster and Moses, and consecrated, on the 
banks of tlie Ganges, the doctrine of tlie three principles or gods 
known to the Greeks, one of whom, named Brahma, or Joupiter, 
was author of all production or creation (the sun in spring;) the sec- 
ond, named Chiven or Pluto, was tJie god of all destruction (tlie sun 
in winter j) and die Uiird, named Vichenou or Neptuae, was god tlie 
preserver of the stationary state (the sun in tlie solstices, stator ;) all 
three distinct, and yet forming all du-ee only one god or power, who, 
sung in the vedas, as in the orphic hymns, is no oUier than tlie three 
eyed Joupiter,* or sun with tliree modes of action, in die tliree ri- 
tous or seasons ; this is die origin ofullthc u-lnit<irys}'stem subtilized 
by Pythagoras and Plato, and totally disfigured by their interpre- 
ters." 

XII. Boudhisniy or Mystical Systems. 

** Such in fine were the moralist reformers revered after Menou, 
under die names of Boudah, Gaspa, Chekia, Goutama, etc., who 
from the principles of Uie metempsychosis, variously modified, deduc- 
ed mystical doctrines usefid at first because Uiey inspired their 'secta- 
ries M'ith a horror of murder, compassion for every feeling being, 
feai* of the punisliments and hope of the rewards reserved for virtue 

* Eye and sun are expressed by the same word in most of the ancient 
languages of Asia. 



THE RUINS. 153 

and vice, in another life, and under a new form j but which after- 
wards became pernicious by the abuse of a visionary system of met- 
aphysics, that endeavoured to oppose the natural order, and pretended 
tliat tlie palpable and material world was a fantastical illusion ; that 
the existence of man was a dream from which he awoke only at his 
death ; that his body was an impure prison which he ought to quit 
as soon as possible, or else a coarse covering which to be pervaded 
by the internal light should be attenuated, and rendered diaphanous 
by fasting, macerations, contemplations, and a number of anchoritic 
practices so strange, that the astonished vulgar could only explain 
the character of their authors by considering tliem as supernatural 
beings, and were only embarrassed to know if they were god humaa- 
ized or man deified. 

" These are the materials which existed in a scattered state for 
many centm-ies in Asia, when a fortuitous concourse of events aad 
circumstances, on the borders of the Euphrates and the Mediterra- 
nean, served to form them into new combinations." 



<Z. 



^U. Christianity, or the Allegorical Worship of the Sun 
under the cabaHstical names of Chris-en or Christ, and Yesu$ 
or Jesus. 

" In constituting a separate nation, Moses strove in vain to defend 
it against the invasion of foreign ideas : an invincible inclination, 
founded on the aflBnity of their origin, had constantly brought back 
the Hebrews towards the worship of tke neighbouring nations ; and 
the commercial and political relations which ncccMarily existed be- 
tween them, strengthened this propensity from day to day. As long 
as the constitution of the state remained entire, the coercive force of 
the government and laws opposed these innovations, and retarded 
their progress ; nevertheless the high places were full of idols, and 
the god Sun had his chariot and' horses painted in the palaces of the 
kings and even in the temples of Yahouh : but when the conquests 
of the sultans of Nineveh and Babylon had dissolved the bands of 
civil power, the people, left to themselves, and solicited by their 
conquerors, restrained no longer their inclination for profane opinions, 
and they were publicly professed in Judea. First tlie Assyrian col- 
onies, which came and occupied the lands of the tribes, filled the 
kingdom of Samaria with dogmas of the Magi, which very soon 
penetrated into the kingdom of Judah : afterwards Jerusalem being 



154 THE RUINS. 

subjugated the Egyptians, Syrians and Arabs, entering this defence- 
IsfeP country, introduced their opinions, and tlie religion of Moses 
was doubly mutilated. Besides, the priests and great men, Ijeing 
transported to Babylon and educated in the sciences of the Kaldeans, 
imbibed, during a residence of fifty years, the whole of their tJieolo- 
gy ; and from that moment the dogmas of the hostile genius (Satan,) . 
the archangel Michael,* the ancient of days (Ormuzd,) the rebel an- 
^Is, the battles in heaven, the immortality of the soul, and the res- 
urrection, all unknown to Moses, or rejected by his , total silence 
resperting them, were introduced and naturalized among the Jew's. 

"The emigrants returned to their country w^ith these ideas; and 
their innovation at first excited disputes between their partisiwis the 
Pharisees, and their opponents the Sadducees, who maintained the 
ancient national worship. But the former, aided by the propensities 
of the people, and their habits already contracted, and supported by 
tlie Persians their deliverers and masters, gained the ascendant over 
the latter, and the sons of Moses consecrated tlie theology of Zoro- 
aster, f 

" A fortuitous analogy between two leading ideas was highly fo- 
vorable to this coalition, and became the basis of a last system, not 
less surprising in the fortune it has had in the world than in the 
causes of its formation. 

" After the Assyria,ns had destroyed tlie kingdom of Samaria, 
some judicious men foresaw the same destiny for Jerusalem, which 
they did not fail to predict and publish ; and their predictions bad 
the particular turn of being terminated by prayers for a reestablish- 
ment and regeneration, uttered in tlie form of prophecies : ths hiero- 
pliants, in their entliusiasm, had painted a king as a deliverer who 
was to reestablish the nation in its ancient glory: the Hebrews 

* " Satan, the archangel Michael."—' The names of the angels and of 
the months, such as Gabriel, Michael, Yar, Nisan, etc. came from Bab- 
ylon v/ith the Jews,' says expressly the T^mud of Jerusalem. See 
Beausobre, Histoire du Manich. vol. 11, p. 624, where he proves that 
the saints of the calendar are an imitaion of the 365 angels of the Per- 
sians ; and Jamblicus, in his Egyptian mysteries, sect. 2, c. 3, speaks of 
angels, archangels, seraphims, etc. like a true Christian. 

t " Consecrated the theology of Zoroaster."—' Tlie whole philosophy 
of the gynwosophists,' says Diogenes Laerthis, on the authority of an 
ancient writer, ' is derived from that of the Magi, and many assert that 
of the .lews to have the same origin •,' [lib. 1, c. 9.] Megasthenes, an his- 
torian of repute in the days of Seleucus Nicanor, and who wrote partic- 
ularly upon India, speaking of the philosophy of the ancients respecting 
natural things, puts the Brahmans and the Jews precisely on the same 
fbotiag. 



THE RUINS. 155 

were to become once more a powerful, a conquering nation, and Je- 
rusalem tlie capital of an empire extended over the whole earth. 

" Events having realized the first part of these predictions, the 
ruin of Jerusalem, the people adhered to the second with a firmness 
of belief in proportion to their misfortunes; and the afflicted Jews 
expected with the impatience of want and desire, this victorious king 
and deliverer who was to come and save the nation of Moses, and 
restore the empire of David. 

" On the other hand, the sacred and mythological traditions of 
preceding times had spread through all Asia a dogma perfectly anal- 
ogous. The cry tliere was a great mediator, a final judge, a future 
saviour, a king, god, conqueror and legislator, who was to restore 
the golden age upon earth,* to deliver it from the dominion of evil, 
and bring men back to the empire of good, peace, and happiness. 
The people seized and cherished these ideas Aviili so much the more 
avidity, as they found in them a consolation under that deplorable 
state of suffering into which they had been plunged by the devasta- 
tions of successive conquests, and the barbarous despotism of their 
governments. This conformity between the oracles of nations and 
those of the propliets, excited the attention of the Jews ; and doubt- 
less the prophets had the art to compose tlieir descriptions after tlie 
style and genius of the sacred books employed in the pagan mysteries ; 
there was therefore a general expectation in Judea of a great ambas- 
sador, a final Saviour, when a singular circumstance determined the 
epoch of his coming. 

" It is found in the sacred books of the Persians and Kaldeans, that 
the worl(l, composed of a total revolution of twelve thousand, was 
divided into two partial revolutions, one of which, the a;^e and reign 
of good, terminated in six thousand, and the other, the age and reign 
of evil, was to terminate in six thousand more. 

" By these records, the first authors kad understood die annual 
revolution of the great celestial orb, called the world, (a revolution 
composed of twelve months or signs, divided each into a thousand 
parts ;) and the two systematic periods of winter and summer, com- 
posed each of six thousand. These expressions, wholly equivocal 
and badly explained, having received an absolute and moral, instead 
of a physical and astrological sense, it happened that the annual 

* " To restore the golden age upon earth." — This is the reason of the 
application of the many pagan oracles to Jesus, and particularly the fourth 
eclogue of Virail aad the sibylline verses so celebrated among the an- 
cients 



156 THE RUINS. 

world was taken for Uie secular world, the thousand of die zodiacal 
divisions for a thousand of years J and supposing, from the state of 
things, tliat tJiey lived in the age of evil, they inferred that it would 
end with the six thousand pretended years.* 

" Now, according to calculations admitted by the Jews, they began 
to reckon near six thousand years since tlie (supposed) creation of the 
world. This coincidence caused a fermentation in the public mind. 
Nothing was thought of but the approaching end ; they consulted the 
hierophants and tlie mystical books, which differed as to the term, 
the great restorer was expected and desired ; he was so much spoken 
of, that some person finally was said to have seen him, or some one of 
a heated imagination fancied himself such and acquired proselytes, 
wiio, deprived of their leader by an incident true no doubt, but 
obscurely recorded, gave rise by their reports to a rumor which was 
gradually converted into an historical fact j upon this first basis, all 
the circumstances of mythological traditions took their stand, and 
produced an authentic and entire system, which it was no longer 
permitted to call in question. 

" These mythological traditions recounted : 'that in the beginning, 
a woman and a man had, by tlieir fall, introduced into the world sin 
and miseiy.' (Consult plate III.) 

"By this was denoted the astronomical fact that the celestial virgin 
and the herdsman (Bootes,) by setting heliacally at the autumnal 
equinox, delivered tlie world to the wintry constellations, and seemed, 
on falling below the horizon, to introduce into tlie world the genius 
of evil, AhrimaneSj represented by the constellation of the serpent.f 

* " End with the six thousand pretended years." — Read upon this sub- 
ject the 17th chapter of the 1st. volume of New Researches on ancient 
history, wliere the Mythology of the creation is explained. The septu- 
agint reckoned five thousand and nearly six hundred years ; and this cal- 
culation was generally adopted ; it is well known how much, in the 
first ages of the Church, this opinion of the end of the v/orld agitated the 
minds of men. In the sequel, the general councils, taking couragr, pro- 
nounced the expectation that prevailed heretical and its believers were 
called millenarians ; a circumstance curious enougk, since it is evident 
from the history of the gospels that Jesus was a milienarian, and of con- 
sequence an heretic. 

t " Represented by the constellation of the serpent."—' The Persians,' 
says Chardin, 'call the constellation of the serpent Ophiucus, serpent of 
Eve;' and this serpent Ophiucus orOphioneus plays a similar part in the 
theology of the Phenicians •, for Pherecydes, their disciple and the mas- 
ter of Pythagoras, said : ' that Opliioneus Serpentinus had been chief of 
the rebels against Jupiter.' Fee Mars. Ficin. Apol. Socrat., p. m. 797, 
col. 2. I shall add that sephah [with ain] signifies in Hebrew viper, 
serpent. 



THE RUINS. 157 

** Tliese traditions related : that the woman had decoyed and 
seduced the man. 

"And in fact, the virgin setting fiist seems to draw the herdsman 
after her. 

" That tlie woman tempted him by offering him fruit fair to the 
sight and good to eat, which gave the knowledge of good and evil. 

"And in fact, tlie virgin holds in her hand a branch of fruit which 
she seems to offer to the herdsman j and the branch, emblem of autumn, 
placed in the picture of Mithra between winter and summer, seems 
to open the door and give knowledge, tlie key of good and evil. 

" That this couple had oeen driven from the celestial garden, and 
that a cherub with a flaming sword had been placed at the gate to 
guard it. 

" And in fact, when the virgin and the herdsman fall beneath llie 
western horizon, Perseus rises on the otlier side,* and tin's genius with 
a sword in his hand, seems to drive them from the summer heaven, 
the garden and dominion of fruits and flowers. 

" That of this virgin should be born, spring Up, an offspring, a. 
child, who should bruise the head of the serpent, and deliver tl»e 
world from sin. 

" This denotes the sun, which, at the moment of tlie winter sols- 
tice, precisely when the Persian magi diew the horoscope of the new 
year, was placed on tlie bosom of the virgin, rising heliacally in the 
eastern horizon; on this account he was figured in their astrological 
pictures under the form of a child suckled by a chaste vij^in,t and 

In a physical sense to seduce, seducere, means only to attract, tc 
draw after one. 

See this picture of Mithra in Hyde, p. Ill, edit, of 1760, de reljgione 
veterum Persarum. 

* " Perseus rises on the other side." — Rather the head of Medusa, tliat 
head of a woman once so beautiful, which Perseus cut off, and which 
he holds in his hand, is only that of the Virgin, whose head sinks below 
the horizon at the very moment that Perseus rises ; and the serpents 
which surround it are Ophiucus and the polar dragon, who then occupy 
the zenith. This shows us in what manner the ancient astroU>gers com- 
posed all their figures and fables •, they took such constellations as they 
found at tlie same time on the circle of the horizon, and collecting the 
different parts, they formed groups which served them as an almanack 
iji hieroglyphic characters : such is the secret of all their pictures, and 
the solution of all their mythological monsters. The Virgin is also An- 
dromeda, delivered by Perseus from the whale that pursues her [pro-se- 
quitur.] 

t" Suckled by a chaste virgin." — Such was the picture of the Persian 
sphere cited by Aben-Ezra, in the Cffilum poeticum of Blaeu, page 71. 
< The division of the first decan of the virgin,' says that writer, ' reprts- 

1.:! 



158 THE RUINS. 

became afterwards, at the vernal equinox, tlie ram or lamb, triumphant 
over the constellation of the serpent, which disappeared from the skies. 

" That in his infancy, tliis restorer of divine and celestial nature 
would live abased, humble,* obscure and indigent. 

"And this, because tlie winter sun is abased below the horizon, 
and that tliis first period of his four ages or seasons, is a time of 
obscurity, scarcity, fasting and want. 

" That, being put to death by the wicked, he had risen gloriously ; 
that he had reascended from hell to heaven, where he would reign 
forever. 

" This is a sketch of the life of the su.i, who, finishing his career 
at die winter solstice, when Typhon and the rebel angels gain the 
dominion, seems to be put to death by them ; but who soon after is 
born again and rises into the vault of heaven where he reigns.f 

seats a beautiful virgin with flowing hair, sitting in a chair, with two 
ears of corn in her hand, and suckling an infant called lesus by some na- 
tions and Christ in Greek.' 

There is to be found in the French king's library an Arabian manu- 
script, no. 1165, in which is a picture of the twelve signs ; and that of the 
virgin represents a young girl with an infant by her side ; the whole 
scene indeed of the birth of Jesus is to be found in the adjacent part of 
the heavens. The stable is the constellation of the charioteer and the 
goat, formerly Capricorn ; a constellation called prajsepe Jovjs Heniochi, 
stable of lou ; and the word Ion is found in the name of lou-seph [Jo- 
seph.] At no great distance is the ass of Typhon [the great bear,] and 
the ox or bull, the ancient attendants of the manger. Peter, the porter, 
is Janus with l.is keys and bald forehead ; the twelve apostles are the 
genii t; the twelve months, etc. This virgin l>as acted very difrer-^nt 
parts in the various systems of mythology : she has been the Isis of the 
Egyptians, who said of her in one of their inscriptions cited by Julian : 
the fruit I brought fcrth is the sun. Most of the traits mentioned by 
Plutarch apply to her, in the same manner as those of Osiris apply to 
Bootes. Also the seven principal stars of the bear, called David's cha- 
riot, were called the chariot of Osiris [See Kirker ;j and the crown that 
is situated behind, formed of ivy, was called Chen-Osiiis, Osiris' tree. 
The Virgin has likewise been Ceres, whose mysteries were the same 
with those of Isis and Mithra •, she has been the Diana of Ephesus, the 
great goddess of Syria, Cyhele drawn iby lions : Minerva, the mother of 
Bacchus ; Astrea, a chaste virgin taken up into heaven at the end of the 
golden age •, Themis, at whose feet is the balance that was put in her 
hands ; the Sybil of Virgil, who descends into hell, or sinks below the 
hemisphere with a branch in her hand, etc. 

* " Live abased, humble."— This word humble comes from the Latin 
hnmilis, hunii-janens, lying on or inclined towards the ground •, and the 
physical signification io always found to be the root of the abstract and 
moral sense. 

t " Born again and rises into the vault of heaven."— Resurgere, to rise 
a second time, cannot signify to return to life, but in a bidd metaphor- 
ical sense ; and we see continually mistakes of this kind result from tihe 
ambiguous meaning of the words made use of in ancient tradition . 



THE RUINS. 159 

** Finally, tliese traditions went so far as to mention even his as- 
trological and mysterious names, and inform us that he was called 
sometimes Chris, that is to say preserver ;* and from that ye Indians, 
have made your God Chris-en or Chris-na ; and ye Greek and West- 
ern Clvribtians, your Chris-tos, son of Mary is the same ; sometimes 
he is called Yes, by the union of three letters, which by their nu- 
merical value form the number 608, one of the solar periods ;t and 
this, Europeans, is tlie name which, with the Latin termination, is 
become your lesus or Jesus, tlie ancient and cabalistic name attri- 
buted to young Bacchus, the clande.-^tine (nocturnal) son of tlie virgin 
Minerva, who, in the history of his whole life, and even of his death, 
brings to mind tlie history of the God of the Christians, that is, of 
die staij of day, of which they are each of tliem the emblems." 

Here a great murmur having arisen among all tlie Christian 

*" Chris, that is to say preserver." — The Greeks used to express by x 
or the Spanish jota, the aspirated ha of the Orientals, who said haris : in 
Hebrew, heres signifies the sun : but in Arabic, the radical word means 
to guard, to preserve, and iiaris, guardian, preserver. It is the proper 
epilijdt of Vichenou, which de.Tionstrates at once the identity of the In- 
dian and Christian trinities, and their common origin. It is manifestly 
but one system, which divided into two branches, one in the east, and 
the other in the west, assumed two different forms ; its principal trunk 
is the Pythagorean system of the soul of the world, or loupiler. The 
epithet piter or fi\ther having l<8en applied to the Demi-ourgos of the Pla- 
tonicians, gave rise to an ambiguity which caused an imjuiry to be made 
after the son. In the opinion of the philosophers it was the understan- 
ding, nous and logos, from which the Latins made their verbuin ; and 
thus we clearly perceive the origin of the eternal father and of the verb 
his son, proceeding from him [mens ex Deo nala, says Macroblus ;] the 
anima or sjiiritus mundi was the holy Ghost; and it is for this reason 
that Manes, Basilides, Valeiilinius, and other pretended heretics of the 
first ages, who traced things to their source, said that God the father 
was the supreme inaccessible lijjht of heaven [the first circle, or the ap- 
lanes jj the son, the scicondary light resident in the sun, and the [loiy 
Ghost the atmosphere of the earth. [See Beausob. vol. n, p:ig. .586.] 
Hence among the Syrians, his emblem of a dove, the bird of Venus 
Urania, that is of the air. ' The Syrians [says Nigidius in Germanico,] 
assert that a dove sat several days in the Euphrates on the egg of a fish, 
whenc|( Venus was born.' Sextus Empiricus also observes, hist. Pynh., 
lib. Ill, c. 23, that the Syrians abstain from eating doves ; this intimates 
to us a period commencing in the sign of Pisces [in the winter solstice.] 
We may farther observe, that if Chris conies from Harisch by a chin, it 
will signify artificer, an epithet belonging to the sun. These variations, 
which must have embarrassed the ancients, prove it to be the real type 
of Jesus, as had been already remarked in the time of Tertullian. 
* Many,' says this writer, 'suppose with greater probability tliat the sun 
is our jod, and they refer us to the religion of the Persians.' (Apol- 
oget. c. l(i.) 

t" One of the solar periods." — See a curious ode to the sun by Mar- 
tianus Capella, translated by Gebelin, volume of the Calendar, pages, 

547 and 548. 



160 THE RUINS. 

groups, the Mussulmen, the Lamas, tlie ludkiiB called them to order, 
and die orator went on to finish his discourse : 

" You know at present :" said he, " how the rest of tliis system 
was composed in die cliaos and anarchy of the three first centuries ; 
what a multitude of sin^jlar opinions divided the minds of men, and 
armed tliem with an entiuisiasm and a reciprocal obstinacy, because 
being equidly founded on ancient tradition, they were equally sacred. 
You know how the government, after tliree centuries, having embra- 
ced one of these sects, made it the orthodox, that is to say, the pre- 
dominant religion to the exclusion of the rest : which being inferior 
in number, became heretical , you know how and by what means of 
violence anu seauciiun tnis religion was propagated, extended, divi- 
ded, and enfeebled ; how, six hundi-ed years after tlie Cliristian in- 
novation, another system was formed from it, and from tliat of the 
Jews : and how Mahomet found the means of composing a political 
and theelogical empire at the expense of tliose of Moses and the vic- 
ars of Jesus. — 

" Now, if you take a review of the whole history of the spirit of 
religion, you will see that in its origin it has had no other author 
than tlie sensations and wants of man, that the idea of God has had 
no other type and model than tliose of physical powers, material be- 
ings producing eitlier good or evil, by Jmpress,ions of pleasure or pain 
on sensitive beings j tliat in the formation of all these systems, tlie 
spirit of religion has always followed the same course, and been mii- 
form in its proceedings ; that in all of them tlie dogma has never 
failed to represent, under die name of gods, the operations of nature, 
the pasvsions and prejudices of men ; that tiie moral of tliem all has 
had for its object the desire of happiness and aversion to pain : but 
that tlie people and die greater part of legislators, not knowing tlie 
route to be pursued, have formed false, and therefore discordant 
ideas, of virtue and vice, of good and evil, that is to say, of what 
renders man happy or miserable : that in every instance, the means 
and the causes of propagating and establishing systems have exhibit- 
ed the same scenes of passion and the same events j everj'where dis- 
putes about words, pretexts for zeal, revolutions and wars excited by 
the ambition of princes, the knavery of apostles, die credulity of 
proselytes, the ignorance of the vulgar, the exclusive cupidity and 
intolerant arrogfince of all : in fine, you will see that the whole his- 
tory of tlie spirit of religion is only tlie history of the errors of the 



THE RUINS. 161 

human mind, which, placed in a Avorld that it does not compre- 
hend, endeavours nevertheless to solve the enigma ; and which, be- 
holding with astonishment this mysteri®us and visible prodigy, im- 
agines causes, supposes reasons, builds systems ; then, (lading one 
defective, destroys it for another not less so ; hates the error tliat it 
quits, misconceives the one it embraces, rejects the truth it is seek- 
ing, composes chimeras of discordant beings, and always dreaming 
of wisdom and liappiness, wanders in the labyrintli of illusion and 
of pain." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE OBJECT OF ALL RELIGIONS IDENTICAL. 

Thus spoke the orator in tlie name of those men who had 
studied the origin and succession of religious ideas. — 

The theologians of various systems, reasoning on tliis discourse : 
" It is an impious representation," said some ; " whose tendency ia 
notliing less than to overtiu-n all belief, to destroy subordination ia 
the minds of men, and annihilate our ministry and power : " It is a 
romance," said others, " a tissue of conjectures, composed with art, 
but without foundation." The moderate and the prudent men added : 
" Supposing all this to be true, why reveal these mysteries'? Dcubtless 
our opinions are full of errors ; but these errors are a necessary re- 
straint on the multitude. The world has gone tiius for two thousand 
years, why change it now V 

A murmur of disapprobation, which never fails to rise at every 
innovation, now began to increase, when a numerous group of the 
common classes of people and of untaught men of all countries and 
of every nation, without prophets, without doctors, and without doc- 
trine, advancing in the circle, drew the attention of the whole assem- 
bly ; and one of them, in the name of all, thus addressed the legisla- 
tor : 

" Mediator and arbiter of nations ! the strange relations which 
have occupied the present debate were unknown to us until this day; 
our understanding, confounded and amazed at so many things, some 
14* 



162 THE RUINS. 

of Uiem learned, others absurd, and all incomprehensible, remains ia 
uncertainty and doubt. One only reflection has struck us ; on re- 
viewing so many prodigious facts, so many contradictory assertions, 
we ask ourselves ; what are all these discussions to us 1 What need 
have we to know what happened five or six thousan*^. years ago, in 
countries we .never heard of, and among men Aiho will ever be un- 
known to us ? True or false, what interest have we in knowing 
whether the world has existed six thousand, or twenty thousand 
years, whether it was made of nothing or of somediing, by itself or 
by a maker, who in his turn would require another maker 1 What ! 
we are not sure of what happens near us, and we shall ansuer foi 
what happens in tlie sun, in the moon, or in imaginary regions of 
space T We have forgotten our own infancy, and shall we know the 
infancy of the world 1 and who will attest what no one has seen 1 
who will certify what no man compreliends 1 

" Besides, what addition or diminution will It make to our exis- 
tence to say yes or no to all these chimei'as 1 Hitherto nei^ier we 
nor our forefathers have had the least notion of them, and we do not 
perceive that we have had on this account either more or less of the 
sun, more or less subsistence, more or less of good or of evil. 

" If the knowledge of these things is so necesaaiy, why have we 
lived as well without it as those who have taken so much trouble 
about it 1 if this knowledge is superfluous, why should we burden 
ourselves with it to day V Then addi-essing himself to the doctors 
and tlveologians : " What !" said he, " is it necessary that we, poor 
and ignorant men, whose every moment is scarcely sufficient for the 
cares of life and the labors of which you take tlie profit, is it neces- 
sary for us to learn the numberless histories that you have related, to 
read the quantity of books that you have cited, and to study tlie va- 
rious languages in which tJiey are composed 1 A thousand years of 
life M'ould not suffice. — " 

" It is not necessaiy," replied the doctors, " that you should ac- 
quire all tliis science : we have it for you. " 

** But even you," replied the simple men, " with all your science, 
you caiuiot agree, of what advantage then is your science 1 

" Besides, how can you answer for us ? If the faitli of one man is 
applicable S?o many, what need have even you to believe ■? your fath- 
ers may have believed for you, and tliis would be reasonable, since 
tliey have seen for you. 

** Fmthei-, what is believing, if belief influences no action 1 And 



THE RUINS. 163 

what action is influenced by believing, for instance, that the world is 
or is not eternal 1" 

" The latter would be offensive to God," said the doctors. — 
"How prove you that V replied the simple men. — " In our books," 
answered tlie doctors — " We do not understand them," returned 
tlie simple men. 

" We understand tliem for you," said the doctors. 

"That is the difficulty," replied the simple men. "By what 
right do you constitute yourselves mediators between God and us 1" 

" By his orders," said the doctors. 

" Where is the proof of these orders V said the simple men. — "In 
our books," said the doctors. — " We understand them not," said the 
simple men ; " and how came this just God to give you this privilege 
over us '? Why should this common father oblige us to believe on a 
less degree of evidence than you 1 He has spoken to you, be it so ; 
he' is infallible, and deceives you not : but it is you who speak to us; 
and who shall assure us that you are not in error yourselves, or that 
you will not lead us into error 1 And if we should be deceived, how 
Avill that just God save us contrary to law, or condemn us on a law 
which we have not known 1 " 

" He has given you the natural law," said the doctors. 

" And what is the natural law V replied the simple men : " If 
that law sulhces, \vhy has he given any otlier 1 If it is not sufficient, 
why did he make it imperfect ? " 

" His judgments are mysteries," said the doctors, " and his justice 
IS not like that of men."— " If his justice," replied the simple men, 
" is not like ours, by what rule are we to judge of it 1 and moreover, 
why all these laws, and what is tlie object proposed by them 1 " 

" To render you more happy," replied a doctor, " by rendering you 
better and more virtuous : it is to teach man to enjoy his benefits, and 
not injm-e each other, that God has manifested himself by so many 
oracles and prodigies." 

" In that case," said the simple men, " there is no necessity for so 
many studies, nor of such a variety of arguments ; only tell us which 
is the religion that best answers the end which they all propose." 

Immediately on this, every group extolling its own morality above 
that of all others, tliere arose among the different sects a new and 
most violent dispute. " It is we," said the Mussulmen, " who pos- 
sess tlie most excellent morals, who teach all tlie virtues useful to 
men and agreeable to God. We profess justice, disinterestedness 



164 THE RUINS. 

resignation to providence, charity to our brethren, alms-giving and 
devotion ; we torment not the soul with superstitious fears ; we live 
without alarm and die witliout remorse." * 

" How dare you speak of morals," answered the Christian priests, 
" you whose chief lived in licentiousness and preached impurity 1 you 
whose first precept is homicide and war 1 For this we appeal to ex- 
perience : since twelve hundred years your fanatical zeal has not 
ceased to spread commotion and carnage among the nations ; and if 
Asia, once so flourishing, is now languishing in barbarism and de- 
population, it is in your doctrine, that we find the cause : in that doc- 
trine, the enemy of all instruction, which sanctifies ignorance, which 
consecrates the most absolute despotism in the governors, exacts the 
most blind and passive obedience from the people, has stupified the 
faculties of man, and brutalized the nations. 

" It is not so with our sublime and celestial morals ; it was they 
which raised the Avorld from its primitive barbarity, from the sense- 
less and cruel superstitions of idolatry, from hunian sacrifices,* from 
the sliamefid orgies of pagan mysteries ; it was they that purified 
manners, proscj-Jbed incest and adultery, polished savage nations, 
banished slavery, and introduced new and unkmnvn virtues, charity 
for men, their equality before God, forgiveness and forgetfulness of 
injuries, the restraint of all the passions, the contempt of worldly 
greatness, a life completely spiritual and completely holy." 

" We admire," said the Mussulmen, " the ease with which you 
reconcile that evangelical meekness, of which you are so ostentatious, 
with the injuries and outrages with which you are constantly galling 
your neighbours. When you criminate so severely the great man 
whom we revere, we might fairly retort on the conduct of him whom 
you adore; but we scorn such advantages, and, confining ourselves to 

* " From human sacrifices."— See the frigid declamation of Eusebius, 
Prfflp. Kv. lih. 1, p. 11. who pretends that, since the coming of Christ, 
there have neither been wars, nor tyrants, nor cannibals, nor sodomites, 
iior persons committing incest, nor savages devouring their parents, eU. 
When we read these early doctors of the church, we are astonished at 
their insincerity or infatuation. A curious work would be a small vol- 
ume of their most remarkable passages, to expose their fully. The truth 
is that Christianity has invented nothing new in morals, and all its mer- 
it consists in putting into practice principles which owed their success 
to circumstances of the times ; tnat is to say, the arrogant and cruel des- 
potism of the Romans In the various branches, military, judiciary, and 
administrative, having exhausted the patience of nations, produced 
among the inferior or popnlar classes, a movement of reaction absolutely 
similar to that, which since twenty-five years, exists in Europe among 
the people against the oppression of the sacerdotal and feudal casts. 



THE RUINS. 165 

the real object in question, we maintain tliat the morals of your 
gospel have by no means tliat perfection which you ascribe to them : 
it is not true that tliey have introduced into the world new and un- 
known virtues : for example, the equality of men before God, that 
fraternity and that benevolence which follow from it, were formal 
doctrines of tlie sect of the Hermetics or Samaneans, from whom 
you descend. As to tlie forgiveness of injuries, tlie Pagans tliem- 
selves had taught it : but i.n die extent you give it, far from being a 
vu-tue, it becomes an immorality, a vice. Your so much boasted 
precept of holding out one cheek after the other, is not only contra- 
ry to every sentiment of man, but is opposed to all ideas of justice : 
it emboldens tlie wicked by impunity ; debases the virtuous by ser- 
vility ; delivers up the world to despotism and tyranny ; and dissolves 
ail society ; such is the true spirit of your doctrines ; your gospels, 
iji their precepts and their parables, never represent God but as a 
despot without any rules of equity ; a partial father, Heating a de- 
bauched and prodigal son with more favor than his other respectful 
and virtuous children ; a capricious master, who gives tlie same 
wages to workmen who had wrought but one hour, as to those who had 
labored through tlie whole day, one who prefers the last comers to the 
first; the moral is everywhere misantliropic and antisocial, it disgusts 
men with Hfe and with society, and tends only to encourage hermit- 
ism and celibacy. 

" As to die manner in which you have practised these morals, we 
appeal, in our. turn, to the testimony of facts : we ask whether it is 
this evangelical meekness which has excited your interminable wars 
of sects, yoiu- atrocious p)ersecutions of pretended heretics, your cru- 
sades against Arianism, Manicheisra, Protestantism, widiout speak- 
ing of yoiu- crusades against us, and of those sacrilegious associa- 
tions, still subsisting, of men who take an oath to continue them.* 
We ask you whether it be gospel charity which has made you exter- 
minate whole nations in America, and annihilate the empires of Mex- 
ico aiid Peru ; which makes you continue to dispeople Africa and 
sell its inhabitants like catde, notvvidistanding yom- abolition of sla- 
very : which makes you ravage India and usmp its dominions ; and 
whether it be the same charity which, for three centuries past, has 
led you to havoc the habitations of the people of three continents, of 
whom the most prudent, the Chinese and Japanese, were constrained 

* "Men who take an oath to continue them." — The oath taken by the 
knights of -Malta, was, to kill, or make prisoners the Mahometans, for 
Ihe gltfry of God. 



166 THE RUINS. 

to drive you off, that they might escape your chains and recover their 
internal peace." 

Here the Brainins, the Rabbins, the Bonzes, tlie Chamans, the 
priests of the Mohicca islands and of the coast of Guinea, loading 
the Christian doctors with reproaches : " Yes !" cried they, " these 
men are robbers and hypocrites, who preach simplicity to surprise 
confidence; humility, to enslave with more ease ; poverty, to appro- 
priate all riches to themselves; they promise another world, the bet- 
ter to usurp the present ; and while they speak to you of tolerance and 
charity, they burn in the name of God, the men who do not worship 
him in their manner.". 

*' Lying priests," retorted the missionaries, " it is you who abuse 
the credulity of ignorant nations to subjugate them ; it is you who 
have made of your ministry an ait of cheating and impostuVe ; you 
have converted religion into a traffic of cupidity and avarice. You 
pretend to hold communication with spirits, and they give for ora- 
cles nothing but your wills ; you feign to read the stars, and destiny 
decrees only your desires ; you cause idols to speak, and the gods are 
but tlie instruments of your passions : you have invented sacrifices and 
libations to collect for your own profit the milk of flocks, and the flesh 
and fat of victims : and under the cloak of piety you devour the offer- 
ings of the gods, who cannot eat, and the substance of the i)eople 
who labor." 

" And you," replied the Bramins, the Bonzes, the Chamans, " you 
sell to the credulous living, your vain prayers for the souls of the 
dead : with your indulgences and absolutions, you have usurped tlie 
power of God himself; and. making a traffic of his favors and par- 
dons you have put heaven at auction, and by your system of expia- 
tions, you have formed a tariff of crimes which has perverted all 
consciences."* 

" Add to this," said the Imans, " that these men have invented 

the most insidious of all systems of wickedness ; the absurd and 

impious obligation of recounting to them the most intimate secrets 

* "A tariff of crimes." — As long as it shall be possible to obtain purifi- 
cation from crimes and exemption! from punishment by means of money 
or other frivolous practices ; as long as kings and lords shall suppose 
that building, temples or instituting foundations, will absolve them from 
the guilt of oppression and homicide 5 as long as individuals shall imag- 
ine that tliey may rob and clteat, provided they fast during Lent, go to 
confession, and receive extreme unction, it is impossible there should 
exist either a public or private morality, or salutary practical legislation. 
But to see the effects of these doctrines, it is only necessary to peruse 
the History of the Temporal Power of the Popes, 4th. edition. 



THE RUINS. 167 

of actions, and of tliouglits f confession ;) so tliat Uieir insolent curi 
Ooity has carried tlieir inquisition even into the sanctuary of the 
mairiage bed,* and the inviolable recesses of the heart." 

Thus by mutual reproaches the doctors of the different sects be- 
gan to reveal all the crimes of their ministry, all the vices of their 
craft : and it was found that among all nations the spirit of the 
priesthood, their system of conduct, their actions, tlieir morals were 
absolutely the same : 

That they had everywhere formed secret associations, and cor- 
porations at enmity with the rest of society ; f 

That they had everywhere attributed to themselves prerogatives 
and immunities, by means of which they lived exempt from tlie bur- 
dens of other classes ; 

That they everywhere avoided the toils of the laborer, the dan- 
ger of the soldier, and the disappointments of tlie merchant; 

* "Even into the sanctuary of the marriage bed." — Confession is a very 
ancient inventioh of the priests, who did not fail to avail themselves of 
that means of governing.— It was practised i;i the Egyptian, Greek, 
Phrygian, Persian mysteries, etc. Plutarcli has transmitted us the re- 
markable answer of a Spartan whom a priest wanted to confess. ' Is it 
to you or to God I am to confess ?' ' To God,' answered the priest ; ' In 
that case,' replied the Spartan, 'man, begone!' (remarkable sayings of the 
Lacedemonians.) The first Christians confessed their faults publicly, like 
the Essenians. Afterwards, priests began to be established, with pow- 
er of absolution "from the sin of idolatry. In the time of Theodosins, a 
woman having publicly confessed an intrigue with a deacon, bishop 
NecTerius, and his successor Chrysostom, granted communion without 
confession. It was not until the seventh century that the abbots of 
convents exacted from monks and nuns confession twice a year ; and 
it was at a still later period that bishops of Rome generalized it. As to 
the Mussulmen, who abhor this practice, and who do not allow women 
a moral character, and scarcely a soul, they cannot conceive how an 
honest man can listen to the recital of the most secret actions and 
thoughts of a girl or a woman. Way not we French, among whom our 
education and sentiments render many women superior to the men, 
ask with astonishment, how can an honest woman consent to reveal 
them to the impertinent curiosity of a monk or a priest .' 

t " Corporations at enmity with the rest of society." — That we may un- 
derstand the general feelings of priests respecting the rest of mankind, 
whom they always call by the name of the people, let us hear one of 
the doctors of the church. 'The people,' says bishop Synnesius (in 
t^alvit., pag. 515.) 'are desirous to be deceived ; there is no acting other- 
wise witli them. finch were always the principles of the ancient 

priests of Egypt •, and for this reason they shut themselves up in their 
temples, and^ there composed their mysteries, out of the reach of the 
eye of the people. (And forgetting what he had just said, he adds:) 
for iiad the people been in the secret they might have been offended at 
the deception. In the meantime how is it possible to conduct one's 
self otherwise with the people, so long as they are the people ? For my 
own part, to myself I shall always be a philosopher, but in dealing with 
»he mass of miinkind I shall be a priest ' 



168 THE RUINS. 

That they lived everywhere in celibacy, to shun even the cares of 
a family ; 

That under the cloak of poverty, they possessed everywhere the 
secret of acquiring wealth and all sorts of enjoyments ; 

That under the name of mendicity they raised taxes to a greater 
amount than princes ; 

That in the form of gifts and offerings, they had established fixed 
a«d certain revenues exempt from charges ; 

That under pretence of retirement and devotion they lived in idle- 
ness and licentiousness ; 

That they had made a virtue of alms-giving, to live quietly on the 
labors of others. 

That they had invented the ceremonies of worship, as a means 
of attracting the reverence of the |)eople, while they were playing the 
parts of gods, of whom they styled themselves the interpreters and 
mediators, to assume all tlieir powers ; that with tliis design, they 
had, according to the degree of ignorance or information of their 
people, assumed by turns the character of astrologers, drawers of 
horoscopes, fortune-tellers, magicians, necromancers,* quacks, phy- 

' A little jargon,' says Gregory of Nazianzus to St. Jerom, (Hieron ad 
Nep.) ' is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less they 
comprehend, the more they admire. — Our forefathers and doctors have 
often said, not what they thought, but what circumstances and neces- 
sity dictated.' 

' We endeavour,' says Sanconiathon, ' to excite admiration by means 
of the marvellous.' [Peosp. Ev., lib. iii.] Such was the conduct of 
all the priests of antiquity, and is still that of the Bramins and lamas 
who are the exact counterpart of the Egyptian priests. To justify this 
system of imposition and falsehood, we are told that it would be dan- 
gerous to en.ighten the people, because they would abuse their informa- 
tion. Is it meant that instruction and deceit are synonymous ? No, but 
as the people are unfortunate by the stupidity, ignorance and avarice 
of tliose who lead and instruct them, the latter want them to be hood- 
winked ; doubtless it would be dangerous to make a direct attack on the 
erroneous belief of a nation ; but there is a philanthropic and medical 
art of preparing men's eyes for the light, as well as their arms for liberty. 
If ever a corporation is instituted in this sense, it Avill astonish the world 
by its success. 

* " Magicians, necromancers." — What is a mapician, in the sense in 
which people understand the word ? A man who by words and gestures, 
pretends to act on supernatural beings and compel them to descend at 
his call and obey his orders. Such was the conduct of the ancient 
priests, and such is still that of all priests in idolatrous nations, for 
which reason we have given them the denomination of magicians. 
Now when a christian priest pretends to make God descend from heav- 
en, to fix him to a morsel of leaven, and to render by means of this 
talisman, souls pure and in a state of grace, what is all this but a trick 
of magic? And where is the difference between him and a Chaman of 
Tartary who invokes the genii, or an Indian Bramin, who makes his 
Viclienou descend in a vessel of water to drive away evil spirits ? But 



THE IIUINS. 169 

Biciana, courtiers, confessors of princes, always aiming at the great 
object to govern for their own advantage. 

That sometimes they had exalteil tlie power of kings and conse- 
crated tlieir persons to monopolize tlieir favors or participate in the 
autliority ; 

That sometimes they had preached up the mmder of tyrants (reserv- 
ing it to tliemselves to define tyranny,) to avenge tlieraselves of tlieir 
contempt or their disobedience j 

And that they always stigmatized witli impiety whatever crossed 
their interest j that they hindered all public instruction, to exercise 
the monopoly of science : that finally, in all times and in all places, they 
had found tlie secret of living in peace in tlie midst of the anarchy 
they created ; in safety under the despotism that tliey favored ; in 
indolence, amidst the industry they preached ! and in abundance 
while suiTounded with scarcity ! and all this by carrying on tlie siu- 
gulai- trade of selling words and gestures to credulous people, who 
purchase tliem as commodities of the greatest value.* 

Then the difl'erent nations, in a transpoit of fury, were going to 
tear in pieces the men who had thus abused them ; but the legislator, 
arresting this movement of violence, addressed the chiefs and doc- 
tors ; " What ! " said he, " instructers of nations, is it thus you have 
deceived them 1 " 

And the terrified priests replied; " O legislator ! we ai'e men, the 
people are so superstitious ! they have tliemselves encouraged tliese 



such is the magic of custom and education, that we took upon as sim- 
ple and reasonable in ourselves, what appears extravagant and absurd 
in others. 

* " Commodities of the greatest value." — A curious work would he the 
comparative history of the Pope's agnuses and the pastils of the grand 
lama! It would be worth while to extend this idea to religious cere- 
monies in general, and to confront, column by column, the analogous or 
contrasting points of faiih and superstitious practices, in all nations. 
There is one more species of superstition which it would be equally sal- 
utary to cure, blind veneration for the great ; and for this purpose it 
would be only necessary to write a minute detail of tlie private life of 
those who govern the world, princes, courtiers and ministers. No work 
would be more philosophical than this: and accordingly we have seen 
what a general outcry was excited, when the anecdotes of the court of 
Berlin first appeared. What would be the alarm were the public ac- 
quaiuteA with the private history of other courts ? Did the people 
know all the critues and all the baseness of this species of idol, they 
would no longer covet their specious pleasures, of which the plausible and 
hollow appearance disturbs their peace, and hinders them from enjoying 
the much more solid happiness of their own condition. 

15 



170 THE RUINS. 

And the kings said j " O legislator ! the people ai'e so servile and 
so ignorant ! they prostrated themselves before the yoke, which we 
scarcely dared to siiow them." 

Then the legislator turning to the people : " People !" said he, 
" remember what you \vj,</e just heard j they are two indelible trutlis. 
Yes, you are yourselves the authors of the evils you lament i it is you 
that encourage tyrants by a base adulation of their power, by an im- 
prudent admiration of their false beneficence, by servility in obedi- 
ence, by licentiousness in liberty, and by a credulous reception of 
every imposition ; on whom shall you wreak vengeance for the faults 
committed by your own ignorance and cupidity 1 " 

And the people, struck with confusion, remained in mournful silence. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF CONTRADICTIONS. 

The legislator then resumed his discourse, " O nations !" said he, 
" we have heard the discussion of your opinions ; and the different 
sentiments which divide you have given rise to many reflections, and 
furnished several questions which we shall propose to you to solve. 

" First, considering the diversity and opposition of the creeds to 
which you are attached, we ask on what motives you found your per- 
suasion ; is it from a deliberate choice that you follow tlie standard 
of one prophet rather than another 1 Before adopting this doctrine 
rather than that, did you first cqmpare'? did you maturely examine 
them "? Or have you received them only from the chance of birth, 
from the empire of education and habit 1 Are you not born Chris- 
tians on the banks of the Tiber, Mussulmen on those of the Euphra- 
tes, Idolaters on the Indus, just as you are born fair in cold climates 
and sable under the scorching sun of Africa *? And if your opinions 
are the effect of your fortuitous position on the earth, of consanguin- 
ity, of imitation, how is it that such a hazard should be a ground of 
conviction, an argument of truth 1 . 

" Secondly, when we reflect on the mutual proscriptions and 
arbitrary intolerance of your pretensions, we are frightened at the 
consequences that flow from your own principles. Nations! who 



THE RUINS. 171 

reciprocally devote each other to the bolts of heavenly wrath, suppose 
thrtt the uni.ersal Being whom you revere, should this moment 
descend from heaven on this multitude, and, clothed with all his 
power, should sit on this throne to judge you, suppose he should 
say to you : ' Mortals ! it is your own justice tiiat I am g(Jiing to 
exercise upon you. Yes, of all the religious systems that divide 
you. one alone shall this day be preferred; all the others, all this 
multitude of standards, of nations, of prophets shall be condemned to 
eternal destruction ; this is not enough — among the particular sects 
of the chosen system, one only can be favored, and all the others 
must be condemned ; neither is this enough : from this little renmant 
of a group, I must exclude all those who have not fulfilled the condi- 
tions enjoined by its precepts : O men ! to what a small number of 
elect have you limited yciu- race ! to what a penury of beneficence 
do you reduce the immensity of my goodness ! to what a solitude of 
admirers do you condemn my greatness and my glory 1 ' 

" But," said the legislator rising : " no matter : you have willed it 
so ; Nations ! here is an urn in which all yom- names are placed : one 
only is a prize — approach and draw tliis tremendous lottery. — " And 
the nations, seized with terror, cried : " No, no; we are all brothers, 
all equal ; we cannot condemn each other." 

Then said the legislator, resuming his seat : " O men ! who dispute 
on so many subjects, lend an attentive ear to one problem which you 
exhibit, and which you ought to decide yourselves." Aad tlie peo- 
ple giving great attention, he lifted an arm towards heaven ; and 
pointing to the sun, said : " Nations, does that sun which enlightens 
you appear square or triangular *? " " No," answered they with one 
voice, " it is round." 

Then taking the golden balance that was on the altar : " This gold 
that you handle every day, is it heavier than the same volume of cop- 
per 1" " Yes," answered all the people, " gold is heavier tlian cop- 
per." 

Then taking the sword : " Is this iron," said the legislator, " sof- 
ter than lead 1" "No," said the people. 

" Is sugar sweet, and gall bitter V — •' Yes." 

" Do you love pleasure, and hate pain V — " Yes." 

" Thus then you are agreed in these points and many others of the 
same nature. 

" Now, tell us, is there a cavern in the centre of the earth, or in- 
habitants in the moon V 



172 THE RUINS. 

This question occasioned an universal murmiu- ; every one answer- 
ed differently, some yes, others no ; one said it was probable ; another 
said it was an idle, ridiculous question; some, that it was wortli 
knowing ; and the discord was universal. 

After sometime, the legislator having obtained silence, said : " Ex- 
plain to us, O nations, tliis problem. We have put to you several 
questions which you have answered with one voice, without dis- 
tinction of race or of sect; white men, black men, followers of Ma- 
homet and of Closes, worshippers of Boudda and of Jesus, all have 
returned the same answer. We then proposed another question, 
and you are all at variance ! Why tliis unanimity in one case, and 
this discordance in the other 1 " 

And die group of simple men and savages answered and said : 
" The reason of this is evident : in the first case we see and feei. the 
objects ; and we speak from sensation : in the second, they are beyond 
tlie reach of our senses ; we speak of them only from conjecture." 

" You have resolved the pi'oblem," said the legislator ; '* and your 
own consent has established tliis first trutli : 

" That whenever objects can be examined and judged of l^ your 
senses, you are agreed in opinion ; 

" And that you only differ when the objects are absent and beyond 
your reach. 

" From this first truth flows another equally clear and worthy of 
notice. Since you agree on things which you know with certainty, 
it follows that you disagree only on those which you know not with 
certainty, and about which you are not sure ; that is to say, you dis- 
pute, you quarrel, you fight for that which is uncertain, that of 
which you doubt. O men ! is not this folly 1 

" Is it not then demonstrated that Truth is not tlie object of your 
contests "? that it is not her cause which you defend, but that of your 
affections, and of your prejudices 1 that it is not the object, as it re- 
ally is in itself, that you would verify, but the object as you would 
have it; that is to say, it is not the evidence of the thing that you 
Avould enforce, but your own personal opinion, your particular man- 
ner of seeing and judging. It is a power that you wish to exercise, 
an interest that you wish to satisfy, a prerogative that you arrogate 
to yourselves ; it is a contest of vanity. Now, as each of you, on 
comparing himself to every other, finds himself his equal and his 
fellow, he resists by a feeling of the same right. And your disputes. 



THE RUINS. 173 

your combats, your intolerance, are the effect of this right which you 
deny each other, and of t4ie inlimale conviction of your equality. 

" Now, die only means of establishing harmony is to return to na- 
ture, and take for a guide and regulator the order of things which 
she has founded ; and then yom- accord will prove this other truth : 

" That real beings have in themselves an identical, constant and 
uniform mode of existence ; and that there is in your organs a like 
mode of lx;ing aflected by them. 

" But at the same time, by reason of the mobility of these organs 
as subject to your will, you may conceive different affections, and 
find yourselves in different relations with the same objects ; so that 
j'ou are to them like a mirror, capable of reflecting them truly as 
they are, or of distorting and disfiguring them. ' 

" Hence it follows that, whenever you perceive objects as they 
are, you agree among yourselves and with, the objects ; and the sim- 
ilitude between your sensations and their manner of existence, is 
what constitutes their truth with respect to you ; 

"And on the contrary, whenever you differ in your opinion, yoiu* 
disagreement is a proof that you do not represent tliem such as they 
are, that you change them. 

" Hence also it follows, that the causes of your disagreement exist 
not in the objects themselves, but in your minds, in your manner of 
perceiving or judging. 

" To establish therefore an uniformity of opinion, it is necessary 
first to establish the certainty, completely verified, that the portraits 
which the mind forms are perfectly like the originals : that it reflects 
the objects correctly as they exist. Now, this result cannot be 
obtained but in those cases where the objects can be brought to the 
test, and submitted to the examination of the senses. Everything 
which cannot be brought to this trial is for that reason alone, im- 
possible to be determined ; there exists no rule, no term of com- 
parison, no means of certainty, respecting it. 

" From this we conclude, that, to live in harmony and peace, we 
must agree never to decide on such subjects, and to attach to them 
no importance; in a word, we must trace a line of distinction 
between those that are capable of verification, and those that are 
not, and separate by an inviolable barrier, the world of fantastical 
beings from the world of realities ; that is to say, all civil effect 
must be taken away from theological and religious opinions. 
15* 



174 THE RUINS. 

"Tins, O people ! is the object proposed by a great nation freed 
from her fetters and iier prejudices ; lliis is the work which, under 
her eye, and by her orders, we had undertaken when your kings and 
your priests came to interrupt it. — O kings and priests I you majr 
suspend, yet for awhile, tJie solemn publication of tiie laws of 
nature : but it is no longer in your power to annihilate or to 
subvert tliem." 

A general siiout then arose from every part of the fissembly ; and 
the nations universally, and with one voice, testified tlieir assent to 
the proposals of the legislator ; " Resume," said they, " your holy 
and sublime labors, and bring them to perfection I Investigate the 
laws which nature, for our guidance, has implanted in our breasts, 
and collect from them an authentic and immutable code ; nor let this 
code be any longer for one family only, but for us all without excep- 
tion ! Be the legislator of the whole human race, as you shall be 
the interpreter of iiature herself; show us the line of partition be- 
tween the world of chimeras and that of realities : and teach us, after 
so many religions of error and delusion, tlie religion of evidence 
and truth !" 

Then the legislator, having resumed his inquiry into the physical 
and constituent attributes of man, and examined the motives and 
affections which govern him in his individual and social state, 
unfolded in these words tlie laws on which nature herself has foimded 
his happiness. '' 



THE 

LAW OF NATURE, 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE LAW OF NATURE. 

Q. What is tlie law of nature ? 

A. It is the constant and regular orcler of facts, by whicli God gov- 
erns the universe; an older which his wisdom presents to the senses 
and to the reason of men, as an ecjiial and common rule for tlieir 
actions, to guide them, without distinction of country or of sect, to- 
wards perfection and happiness. 

Q. Give a clear definition of the word law. 

A. The word law, taken literally, signifies lecture,* because, 
originally, ordinances and regulations were the lectures, preferably to 
all others, made to the people, in order diat they might observe them, 
and not incur the penalties attached to the infraction of them : whence 
follows the original custom explaining the true idea. 

The definition of law is, " An order or prohibition to act, with 
the express clause of a penalty attached to the infriCtion, or of a 
recompense attached to the observance of that order." 

Q. Do such orders exis": in nature T 

A. Yes. 

Q. What does the word nature signify 1 , 

A. The word nature bears three different senses. 

* From the Latin word lex, lectio. Alcoran likewise signifies lecliir* 
and is only a literal translation of the word law. 



176 LAW OF NATURE. 

1st. It signifies the universe, . the material world: in this first 
sense we say tlie beauty of nature, the richness of nature, that is to 
say, the objects in the heavens and on the earth exposed to our sight ; 

2dly. It signifies the power that animates, that moves the uni- 
verse, considering it as a distinct being, such as the soul is to the 
body: in this second sense we say, " The intentions of nature, tlie in- 
comprehensible secrets of nature.*' 

3dly. It signifies the partial operations of that power on each being, 
or on each class of beings ; and in this third sense we say, " The na- 
ture of man is an enigma ; every being acts according to its nature." 

Wherefore, as the actions of each being, or of each species of be- 
ings, are subjected to constant and general rules, which cannot be in- 
fringed without interrupting and troubling the general or particular 
order, those rules of action and of motion are called natural laws, or 
laws of nature. 

Q. Give me examples of those laAvs 

A. It is a law of nature, that the sun illuminates successively the 
surface of the terrestrial globe ; — that its presence causes both light 
and heat ;— that heat acting upon water, produces vapors ; — that 
those vapors rising in clouds into the regions of the air, dissolve in- 
to rai 1 or snow, and renew incessantly the waters of fountains and 
of rivers. 

It is a law of nature, that water flows downwards ; that it endeav- 
ours to find its level; that it is heavier than air; that all bodies 
tend towai'ds the earth ; that flame ascends towards the heavens ; — 
that it disorganizes vegetables and animals; that air is necessary to 
the life of certain animals; that, in certain circumstances, water suf- 
focates and kills them; that certain juices of plants, certain minerals 
attack their organs, and destroy their life, and so on in a multitude 
of other instances. 

Wherefore, as all those, and similar facts are immutable, constant, 
and regular, so many real orders result from them for man to con- 
form himself to, with the express clause of punishment attending the 
infraction of them, or of welfare attending their observance. So 
that if man pretends to see clear in darkness, if he goes in contradic- 
tion to the course of the seasons, or the action of the elements ; if 
he pretends to remain under water without being drowned, to touch 
fire without burning himself, to deprive himself of .;ir without being 
suffocated, to swallow poison without destroying himself, he receives 
from each of those infractions of the laws of nature a corporeal 



LAW OF NATURE. 177 

punishment proportionate to liis fault; but if on the contrary, he ob- 
serves and practises each of those laws according to the regular and 
exact relations they have to him, he preserves his existence, and 
renders it as happy as it can be : and as the only and common end 
of all those laws, considered relatively to mankind, is to preserve, 
and render them happy, it has been agreed upon to reduce the idea 
to one simple expression, and to call tliem collectively tlie law of 
nature. 



CHAPTER II. 

CHARACTERS OF THE LAW OF NATURE. 

Q,. What are the characters of the law of nature"? 

A. Tliere can be assigned ten principal ones. 

Q. Which is tlie first 1 

A. To be inherent to the existence of things, and, consequently, 
primitive and anterior to every other law : so that all those which 
man has received, are only imitations of it, and their perfection is 
ascertained by the resemblance they bear to this primordial model. 

Q,. Which is the second 1 

A. To be derived immediately from God, and presented by him 
to each man, whereas all other laws are presented to us by men, 
who may be either deceived or deceivers. 

Q. Which is the third 1 

A. To be common to all times, and to all countries, tliat is to say, 
one and universal. 

Q. Is no other law universal 1 

A. No : for no other is agreeable or applicable to all the people 
of the earth; they are all local and accidental, originating from cir- 
cumstances of places and of persons ; so that if such a man had not 
existed, or such an event happened, such a law would never have 
been enacted. 

Q. Which is the fourth character 1 

A. To be uniform and invariable. 

Q,. Is no otlier law uniform and invarijible '? 



^8 LAW OF NATURE. 

A. No : for what, is good and virtue according to one, is evil 
and vice according to another ; and what one and the same law ap- 
proves of at one time, it often condemns at another. 

Q. Which is the fifth character % 

A. To be evident and palpable, because it consists entirely of 
facts incessantly present to the senses, and to demonstration. 

Q. Are not otlier laws evident 1 

^. No : for they are founded on past and doubtful facts, on equivo- 
cal and suspicious testimonies, and on proofs inaccessible to the senses. 

Q. Which is the sixth character 1 

A. To be reasonable, because its precepts and entire doctrine 
are conformable to reason, and to the human understanding. 

Q. Is no other law reasonable '? 

A. No : for all are in contradiction to the reason and the under- 
standing of men, and tyrannically impose on him a blind and imprac- 
ticable belief. 

Q. Which is the seventh character 1 

A. To be just, because in that law, the penalties are proportion- 
ate to the infractions. 

Q. Are not other laws just 1 

A. No : for they often exceed bounds, eitlier in rewarding de- 
serts, or in punishing delinquencies, and consider as meritorious or 
criminal, null or indifferent actions. 

Q. Which is the eighth character 1 

A. To be pacific and tolerant, because in tl»e law of nature, all 
men being brothers and equal in rights, it recoKmiends to them only 
peace and toleration, even for errors. 

Q. Are not other laws pacific 1 

A. No: for all preach dissension, discord, and war, and divide 
mankind by exclusive pretensions of truth and domination. 

Q. Which is the ninth character 1 

A. To be equally beneficent to all men, in teaching them the true 
means of becoming better and happier. 

Q. Are not other laws beneficent likewise 1 

-4. No : for none of them teach the real means of attaining hap 
piness ; all are confined to pernicious or futile practices ; and this is 
evident from facts, since after so many laws, so many religions, so 
many legislators and prophets, men are still as unhappy and as igno- 
rant, as tliey were six thousand years ago. 

Q. Which is the last character of the law of nature'' 



LAW OF NATURE. 179 

A. That it is alone sufficient to render men happier and better, 
because it comprises all that is good and useful in other laws, either 
civil or religious, that is to say, it constitutes essentially the nioral 
part of them ; so that if other laws were divested of it, tliey woidd 
be reduced to chimerical and imaginary opinions devoid of any 
practical utility. 

Q. Recapitulate all those characters. 

A. We have said that the law of nature is, 

1st. Primitive ; 6th. Reasonable ; 

2d. Immediate J 7th. Just; 

3d. Universal ; 8th. Pacific ; 

4tli. Invariable ; 9th. Beneficent : and 

5th. Evident ; . 10th. Alone sufficient ; 

And such is the power of all these attributes of perfection and 
tnith, that when in their disputes the theologians can agree upon no 
article of belief, they recur to the law of nature, the neglect of which, 
say they, forced God to send from time to time prophets to proclaim 
new laws ; as if God enacted laws for particular circumstances, as 
men do, especially when the first subsists in such force, that we may 
assert it to have been at all times and in all countries the rule of con- 
science for every man of sense or understanding. 

Q. If, as you say, it emanates immediately from God, does it 
teach his existence 1 

A. Yes, most positively : for, to any man whatever, who ob- 
serves with reflection the astonishing spectacle of the universe, the 
more he meditates on the properties and attributes of each being, on 
the admirable order and harmony of their motions, the more it is de- 
monstrated that there exists a supreme agent, an universal and iden- 
tic mover, designated by the appellation of God ; and so true it is 
that the law of nature suffices to elevate him to the knoAvledge of God, 
that all which men have pretended to know by supernatural means, 
has constantly turned out ridiculous and absurd, and that they have 
ever been obliged to recur to the immutable conceptions of natural 
reason. 

Q. Then it is not true that the followers of the law of nature are 
atheists 1 

A. No, it is not true; on tlie contrary, they entertain stronger 
and nobler ideas of the Divinity than most other men; for they do 
not sully him with the foul ingredients of all the weaknesses and 
passions entailed on humanity. 



180 LAW OP NATURE. 

Q. What worship do they pay to him "? 

A. A worship wholly of action ; the practice and observance of 
all the rules which the supreme wisdom has imposed on the motion of 
each being ; eternal and unalterable rules, by which it maintains the 
order and harmony of the universe, and which, in tlieir relations to 
man, constitute the law of nature. 

Q. Was the law of nature known before this period ; 
A. It has been at all times spoken of: most legislators pretend 
to adopt it as the basis of their laws ; Uit they only quote some of 
its precepts, and have had only vague ideas of its totality. 
Q. Whyl 

A. Because, though simple in its basis, it forms in its develope- 
ments and consequences, a complicated whole wliich requires an ex- 
tensive knowledge of facts, joined to all the sagacity of reasoning. 
Q. Does not instinct alone teach the law of nature 1 
A. No ; for by instinct is meant nothing more than tliat blind 
sentiment-by which we ai-e actuated indiscriminately towards every- 
thing that flatters the senses. 

Q. Why then is it said that the law of nature is engraved in the 
hearts of all men 1 

A. It is said for two reasons : 1st., because it has been remark- 
ed, that there are acts and sentiments common to all men, and this 
proceeds from their common organization > 2dlj'., because the first 
philosophers believed that men were born with ideas already formed, 
which is now demonstrated to be erroneous. 
Q. Philosophers then are fallible'? 
A. Yes, sometimes. 
Q. Why so 1 

A. 1st., Because they are men; 2dly., because the ignorant call 
all those who reason, right or wrong, philosophers ; 3dly., because 
those who reason on many subjects, and who are the first to reason 
on them, ai-e liable to be deceived. 

Q. If the law of nature be not Avritten, must it not become arbi- 
trary and ideal 1 

A. No: because it consists entirely in facts, the demonstration 
of which can be incessantly renewed to the senses, and constitutes 
a science as accurate and as precise as geometry and mathematics ; 
and it is because the law of nature forms an exact science, that men, 
born ignorant and living inattentive and heedless, have had hitherto 
only a superficial knowledge of it. 



LAW OF NATURE. 181 



CHAPTER III. 

PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF NATURE WITH RELATION 

TO MAN. 

Q. Explain the principles of the law of nature with relation to 
man. 

A. They are simple ; all of them are comprised in one funda- 
mental and single precept. 

Q. What is tiiat precept 1 

A. It is self-preservation. 

Q. Is not happiness also a precept of the law of nature 1 

A. Yes : but as happiness is an accidental state, resulting only 
fi'om tlie developeinent of man's faculties and his social system, it is 
not the immediate and direct object of nature ; it is, in some meas- 
m'e, a superfluity annexed to the necessary and fundamental object of 
presen'ation. 

Q. How does nature order man to preserve himself? 

A. By two powerful and involuntary sensations, which it has 
attached, as two guides, two guardian Geniuses to all his actions : the 
one, a sensation of pain, by which it admonishes him of, and deters 
him from, everything that tends to destroy him ; the other, a sensa- 
tion of pleasure, by which it attracts and carries him towards 
everything that tends to his preservation and the developement of his 
existence. 

Q. Pleasure therefore is not an evil, a sin, as casuists pre- 
tend. 

A. No, only in as much as it tends to destroy life and health, 
which, by the arowal of those same casuists, we derive from God 
himself. 

Q. Is pleasure the principal object of our existence, as some 
philosophers have asserted 1 • 

A. No ; not more than pain ; pleasure is an incitement to live, 
as pain is a repulsion from death. 

Q. How do you prove this assertion 1 

A. By two palpable facts ; one, that pleasure when taken im- 
moderately, leads to destruction ; for instance, a man who abuses the 
pleasure of eating or drinking, attacks his health, and injures his 
16 



182 LAW OP NATURE. 

life. The otiier, that pain sometimes leads to self-preservation : for 
instance, a man who suffers a mortified member to be cut off, 
endures pain in order not to perish totally. 

Q. But ddes not even this prove that our sensations can deceive 
us respecting the end of our preservation 1 

A. Yes J tliey can momentarily. 

Q. How do our sensations deceive us 1 
, A. In two ways ; by ignorance, and by passion. 

Q. When do they deceive us by ignorance 1 

A. When we act without knowing the action and effect- of objects 
on our senses : for oxample, when a man touches nettles without 
knowing tlieir slinging quality, or when he swallows opium witliout 
knowing its soporiferous effects. 
' Q. When do they deceive us by passion 1 

A. Wlien, conscious of the pernicious action of objects, we 
abandon ourselves, nevertheless, to the impetuosity of our desires and 
appetites : for example, when a man who knov/s tliat wiiie intoxi- 
cates, does nevertlieless drink it to excess. 

Q. What is the result 1 
t A. It results that the ignorance in which we are born, and the 
unbridled appetites to wh"cJ\ we abandon ourselves, are contrary to 
our preservation ; that consequently the instruction of our minds and 
the moderation of our passions are two obligations, two laws which 
derive immediately from the first law of preservation. 

Q. But if we are born ignorant, is not ignorance a law of 
nature 1 

A. No more than to remain in the naked and feeble state of 
infancy. Far from being a law of nature, ignorance is an obstacle 
to the prat^tice of all its laws. It is the real original sin. 

Q. Why then have there been moralists who have looked upon it 
as a virtue and a perfection '? 

A. Because, from a whimsical or misanthropical disposition they 
have confounded the abuse of knowbdge with knowledge itself : as if, 
because men ixhnse the po\ver of speech, their tongues should be cut 
out : as if perfection and virtue consisted in the nullity, and not in 
the developement and proper employ of our faculties. 

Q. Instruction is therefore indispensably necessary to man's 
existence. 

A. Yes, so indispensable, that without it he is every instant 
assailed and wounded by all that surrounds him ; for if he does not 



LAW OF NATURE. 



183 



know the effects of fire, he burns himself ; those of water, he drowns 
himself J those of opium, he poisons himself; if, in the savage state, 
he does not know the wiles of animals, and the art of seizing-game, 
he perishes throu;jh liimger ; if, in the social state, he does not know 
the course of the seasons, he can neither cultivate the ground, nor 
procure nourishment ; and so on, of all his actions, respecting all the 
wants of his preservation. 

Q. But can man separately by himself acquire all this knowledge 
necessary to his existence, and to the developement of liis faculties 1 

A. No, not without the assistance of his fellow men, and by 
jiving in society. 

Q. But is not society to man a state against nature 1 

A. No : it is on the^ central^ a necessity, a law that nature 
imposed on him by the very act of his organization : for, 1st., nature 
has so constituted man, that he cannot see his species of another sex 
without feeling emotions and an attraction, the consequences of 
which induce him to live in a family, which is already a state of 
society ; 2nd., by endowing him with sensibility, she organized him 
so that the sensations of others reflect within him, and excite 
reciprocal sentiments of pleasure and of grief, which are attractions^ 
and indissoluble ties of society; 3rd., and finally, the state of society, 
founded on the wants of man, is only a further means of fulfilling the 
law of preservation : and to pretend that this state is out of nature, 
because it is more perfect, is the same as to say, that a bitter and 
wild fruit of tlie forest, is no longer the production of nature, when 
rendered sweet and delicious by cultivation in our gardens. 

Q. Why tlicn have philosophers called the savage state, the state 
of perfection *? 

A. Because, as I have told you, the vulgar have often given the 
name of philosophers to whimsical geniuses, who, from morosene.ss, 
from wounded vanity, or from a disgust to the vices of society, have 
conceived chimerical ideas of the savage state, in contradiction with 
their own system of a perfect man. 

Q. What is the true meaning of the word philosoplier 1 

A. The word philosopher signifies a lover of wisdom : wherefore, 
as wisdom consists in tlie practice of the laws of nature, the true 
philosopher is he who knows those laws extensively and accurately, 
and who conforms die whole tenor of his conduct to tliem. 

Q> What is man in the savage state 1 



184 LAW OV NATURE. 

A. A brutal, ignorant animal, a wicked and ferocious beast, like 
bears and Ourang-outangs. 

Q,. Is he happy in that state! 

A. No : for he only feels momentary sensations; and those sensa- 
tions are habitually of violent wants which he cannot satisfy, since he 
is ignorant by nature and weak by being insulated from his gpecies. 

Q. Is he free'? 

A. No : he is the most abjdct slave that exists ; for his life de- 
pends on everything that surrounds him ; he is not free to eat when 
hungry, to rest when tired, to warm himself when cold ; he is every 
instant in danger of perishing ; wherefore nature offers but fortuitous 
examples of such beings ; and we see that all the efforts of the human 
species, since its origin, solely tend to emei-ge from that violent state, 
by the pressing necessity of self-preservation. 

Q. But does not this necessity of preservation engender in indi- 
viduals egotism, that is to say Self-lovel and is not egotism contrary 
to the social state 1 

A. No : for, if by egotism you understand a propensity to hurt 
our neighbour, it is no longer self-love, but the hatred of others. 
Self-love, taken in its true sense, not only is not contrary to society, 
but is its firmest support by the necessity we lie under of not injuring 
otliers, lest in return they should injure us. 

Thus man's preservation and the unfolding of his faculties, directed 
towards this end, are the true law of nature in the production of the 
human being : and it is from this simple and fruitful principle that 
are derived, are referred, and in its scale are weighed, all ideas of 
good and evil, of vice and virtue, of just and unjust, of truth or error, 
of lawful or forbidden, on which is founded the morality of individu- 
al, or of social man. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BASIS OF MORALITY ; OF GOOD, OF EVIL, OF SIN, OP CRIME, 
OF VICE AND OF VIRTUE. 

Q. What is good, according to the law of nature"? 

A. It is everything that tends to preserve and perfect man. 

Q. What is evill 



LAW OF NATURE. 185 

A. It is everytliing that tends to man's destruction or deteriora- 
tion 

Q. What is meant by physical good and evil, and by moral good 
and evin 

A. By the word physical is understood, whatever acts immediate- 
ly on the body. Health is a physical good ; and sickness a physical 
evil. By moral, is meant what acts by consequences more or less 
remote. Calumny is'a moral evil ; a fair reputation is a moral good, 
because botli one and the other occasion towards us, on the part of 
other n^en, dispositions and habitudes,* which are useful or hurt- 
ful to ow preservation, and which attack or favor our means of ex- 
istence. 

Q. Everything that tends to preserve or to produce is therefore 
a goodl 

A. Yes ; and it i-s for that reason that certain legislators have 
classed amongst the works agreeable to the divinity, the cultivation 
of a field and the fecundity of a woman. 

Q.. Whatever tends to give death is therefore an evill 

A. Yes : and it is for tliat reason some legislators have extended 
the idea of evil and of siit even to the murdering of animals. 

Q. The murdering of a man is tlierefore a crime in tJie law of 
nature "? 

A. Yes : and the gi-eatest that can be committed : for every other 
evil can be repaired, but murder alone is irreparable. 

Q,. What is a sin in tlie law of nature'? 

A. It is whatever tends to trouble tlie order established by natwe, 
for the preservation and perfection of man and of society. 

Q. Can intention be a merit or a crime 1 

A. No : for it is only an idea void of reality ; but it is a com- 
mencement of sin and evil, by the tendency it gives towards action 

Q. What is virtue according to the law of nature^ 

A. It is the practice of actions useful to the individual and to so- 
ciety. 

Q. What is meant by the word individuaH 

A. It means a man considered separately from every otlier. 

Q. What is vice according to the lawof naturel 

A. It is the practice of actions prejudicial to tlie individual and 
to society. 

*It is from this word habitudes, (reiterated actions,) in Latin mores, that 
the word moral, and all its family, are derived. ^ 

16* ^ 



186 LAW OF NATURE. 

Q. Have not virtue and vice an object purely spiritual and ab» 
Btracted from tlie senses'? 

A. No : It is always to a physical end that they finally relate, 
and that end is always to destroy or preserve the body. 

Q. Have vice and virtue degrees of strength and intenseness? 

A. Yes : according to the importance of the faculties which they 
attack or which they favor; and according to the number of indi- 
viduals in whom those faculties are favored or injured. 

Q. Give me some examples. 

A. The action of saving a man's life is more virtuous than that 
of saving his property ; the action of saving the life of ten men, than 
than that of saving only die life of one, and an action useful to tlie 
whole human race is more virtuous than an action tiiat is only useful 
to one single nation. 

Q. How does the law of nature prescribe the practice of good 
and virtue, and forbid tiiat of evil and vice 1 

A. By the veiy advantages resulting from the practice of good 
and virtue for tlie preservation of our body, and by the losses which 
result, to our existence, from the practice of evil and vice. 

Q. Its precepts are then in action 1 

A. Yes : they are action itself considered in its present effect 
and in its future consequences. 

Q. How do you divide tlie virtues 1 

A. We divide them into three classes, 1st. individual virtues, as 
relative to man alone ; 2d. domestic virtues, as relative to a family 
8d. social virtues, as relative to society. 



CHAPTER V. 



OF INDIVIDUAL VIRTUES. 

Q, Which are the individual virtues 1 
A. They are five principal ones, to wit : — 

1st. Science, which comprises prudence and wisdom] 
2d. Temperance, comprising sobriety and chastity ; 
3d. Couragf, or strength of body and mind; 



LAW OF NATURE. 187 

4th. Activity, that is to say, love of labor and employment of 
time; 

otli. And finally, cleanliness, or purity of body, as well in dress as 
in habitation 

Q. How aoes the law of nature prescribe science'? 

A. Because tlie man acquainted with the causes and effects of 
things, attends in an extensive and sm-e manner to \m preservation 
and to the developement of his faculties. Science is to liiin the eye 
ami t!ie light which enable him to discern clearly and accurattdy all 
the olijecis with which he is conversant, and hence by an enlighte;ied 
man is meant a learned and well informed man. With s(!io*nce and 
insti-uction a man never wants for resources and means of subsistence ; 
and upon this principle a philosopher who had l)cen sKi|)wrccked 
said to his companions, that were inconsolable for the loss of their 
wealth ; " For my part, I carry all my wealth witlsia me."' 

Q. Which is the vice contrary to science 1 

A. It is ignorance. 

Q. How does the law of nature forbid ignoi^ance 1 

A. By the grievous detriments resulting from it to our existence ; 
for the ignorant man, who knows neither causes nor effects, commits 
every instant errors most pernicious to himself and to others ; he 
resembles a blind man groping his way at random, and who, at 
every step, jostles or is jostled by every one he meets. 

Q. What difference is there between an ignorant and a silly 
man 1 

A. The same difference as between him who frankly avows hia 
blindness and the blind man who pretends to sight ; silliness is the 
reality of ignorance, to which is superadded the vanity of knowledge. 

Q. Are ignorance and silliness common 1 

A. Ye3, very common ; they are the usual and general distempers 
of mankind : more than three thousand years ago the wisest of men 
said. The number of fools is infinite ; and the world has not changed. 

Q. What is the reason of it 1 

A. Because much labor and time are necessary to acquire in- 
struction, and because men, born ignorant, and averse to trouble, 
find it more convenient to remain blind aad to pretend to see 
clear. 

Q. What difference is there between a learned and a wise man 1 

A. Tlie learned knows, and the wise man practises, 

Q What is nrudence 1 



188 LAW OP NATURE. 

A. It is the anticipated perception, the foresight of the effects 
and consequences of every action j by means of which foresight man 
avoids tlie dangers which tnreaten him, whilst he seizes on and 
creates opportunities favorable to him : he thereby provides for hig 
present and future safety in a certain and extensive manner; whereas 
the imprudent man, who calculates neitlier his steps nor his conduct, 
Bor efforts nor resistance, falls every instant into a thousand dif- 
ficulties and dangers which sooner or later impair his faculties and 
desti-oy his existence. 

Q. When the Gospel says " happy are the poor of spirit *' does it 
mean the ignorant and imprudent 1 

A. No : for at tlie same time that it recommends tlie simplicity 
of doves, it adds the prudent cunning of serpents. By simplicity of 
mind is meant uprightness, and the precept of the gospel is that of 
nature. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ON TEMPERANCE. 

Q. What is temperance 1 

A. It is a regular use of our faculties, which makes us never 
exceed in our sensations, tlie end of nature to preserve us ; it :s'the 
moderation of the passions. 

Q. Which is the vice contrary to tempennce 1 

A. The disorder of the passions, the avidity of all kiad of 
enjoyments, in a word, cupidity. 

Q. Which are the principal branches of temperance 1 

A. Sobriety, and continence or chastity. 

Q. How does tlte law of nature prescribe sobriety 1 

A. By its powerful influence over our health. The sober man 
digests with comfort ; he is not overpowered by the weight of ali- 
ments; his ideas are clear and easy; he fulfils all his functions pro- 
perly ; he conducts his business with intelligence; his old age is 
exempt from infirmity ; he does not spend his money in remedies, 
and he enjoys, in mirth and gladness, tlie wealth which chance 



LAW OF NATURE. 189 

and his own prudence have procured him. Thus, from one virtue 
alone, generous nature derives innumerable recompenses. 

Q, How does it prohibit gluttony '? 

A. By the numerous evils that are attached to it The giutton, 
oppressed witli aliments, digests with anxiety; his head, troubled by 
the fumes of indigestion, is incapable of conceivmg clear and distinct 
ideas : he abandons himself with violence to the disorderly impulse 
of lust and anger, which impair his health ; his Ixnly becomes bloated, 
hea\'y, and unfit for labor ; he endures puinful and expensive dis- 
tempers ; he seldom lives to be old ; 'and his age is replete with in 
firmities and sorrow. 

Q. Should abstinence and fasting be considered as virtuous 
actions 1 

A. Yes, when one has eaten too much ; for then abstinence and 
fasting are simple and efficacious remedies ; but when the body is in 
want of aliment, to refuse it any, and let it silver from hunger oi 
tliirst, is delirium and a real sin against the law of nature. 

Q. How is drunkenness considered in tlie law of nature *? 

A. As a most vile and pernicious vice. The drunkard, deprived 
of the sense and re.ison given us by God, profanes the donations of 
the divinity : he debases iiimself to the condition of brutes ; unable 
even to guide his steps, he staggers and falls as if he were epileptic ; 
lie hurts and even risks killing himself j his debility in this state expo- 
ses him to the ridicule and contempt of every person that sees him ; 
he makes, in his drunkenness, prejudicial and ruinous bargains, and 
injures his fortune j he makes use of opprobrious language, which cre- 
ates him enemies and repentance ; he fills his house with trouble and 
sorrow, and ends by a premature death or by a cacochymical old age. 

Q. Does the law of nature interdict absolutely the use wf wine 1 

A. No ; it only forbids the abuse ; but as the transition from the 
use to the abuse is easy and prn.npt amongst the generality of men, 
perhaps the legislators, who have proscribed the use of wine, have 
rendered a service to humanity. 

Q. Does the law of nature forbid the use of certain kinds of meat, 
or of certain v^tables, on particular days, during certain sea- 
sons. 

A. No : it absolutely forbids only whatever is injurious to healtli ; 
its precepts, in this respect, vaiy according to |)ersons, and even con- 
stitute a very delicate and important science : for tlie qualify, the 
q^jautity, and the combiaation ofalimeuts have thegi-eatest influence, 



190 LAW OF NATURE. 

not only over the momentary affections of the soul, but even over 
its habitual disposition. A man is not the same fasting as after a meal, 
even if he were sober. A glass of spirituous liquor or a dish of coP 
fee, give degree? of vivacity, of mobility, of disposition to anger, sad 
ness or gaiety ; such a meat, because it lies heavy on the stomach, 
engenders moroseness and melancholy ; such anotlier, because it fa- 
cilitates digestion, creates sprightliness, and an inclination to oblige 
and to love. The use of vegetables, because they have little nourish- 
ment, enfeebles tlie body, and gives a disposition to repose, indolence, 
and ease ; tine use of meat, because it is full of nourishment, and of 
spirituous liquors, because they stimulate the nerves, creates vivacity, 
uneasiaess and audacity. Now from those habitudes of aliment result 
habits of constitution and of the organs, which form aftervir.ird3 dii^ 
ferent kinds of temperaments, each of which is distinguished by a pe- 
culiar characteristic. And it is for this reason, that, in hot countries 
especially, legislators have made laws respecting regimen or food. 
The ancients were taugtitby long experience, that the dietetic science 
constituted a considerable part of morality ; amongst the BIgyptians, 
the ancient Persians, and even amongst tlie Greeks, at the Areopa- 
gus, important affairs were examined fasting ; and it has been re- 
Hiarked, tliat amongst those people, where public affairs were discus- 
sed during tlie heat of meals, and the fumes of digestion, deliberations 
were hasty and violent, and the results of them firequently unreason- 
able and productive of turbulence and confusion. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ON CONTINENCE. 

Q. Does the law of nature prescribe continence 1 
A. Yes : because a moderate use of the most lively of pleasures is 
not only useful, but indispensable, to the support of strength and health : 
and because a' simple calculation proves that, for some minutes of 
privation, you increase the number of your days, both in vigor of 
body and of mind. 
Q. How does it forbid libertinism *? 



LAW OF NATURE. 191 

A. By tlie numerous evils whicli result from it to the physical and 
ihe moral existence. He who carries it to an excess enervates and 
pines away; he can no longer attend to study or labor; he contracts 
idle and expensive habits, which destroy his means of existence, his 
public consideration and his credit : his intrigues occasion continual 
embarrassment, cares, quarrels and lawsuits, witliout mentioning the 
grievous deep-rooted distempers, and the loss of his strengdi by an 
inward and slow poison : the stupid dulness of his mind, by the ex- 
haustion of the nervous system; and, in fine, a premature and infirm 
old age. 

Q,. Does tlie law of nature look on that absolute chastity so 
recommended m menastical institutions, as a virtue 1 

A. No : for that chastity is of no use either to the society tliat 
witnesses or the individual who practises it : it is even prejudicial 
to both. First it injures society by depriving it of population, which 
is sne of its principal sources of wealdi and power ; and as bachelors 
confine all their views and , affections to the term of their lives, they 
have in general an egotism unfavorable to the interests of society. 

In the second place, it injures the individuals who practise it, be- 
cause it deprives them of a number of affections and relations which 
are the springs of most domestic and social virtues; and besides, it 
often happens, firom circumstances of age., regimen, or temperament, 
that absolute continence injures the constitution and causes severe 
diseases, because it is contrary to the physical laws on which nature 
has founded the system of the reproduction of beings ; and they who 
recommend so strongly chastity, even supposing them to be sincere, 
are in contradiction with their own doctrine, which consecrates the 
law of nature by tlie well known commandment : increase and mul- 
tiply- 

Q,. Why is chastity considered a greater virtue in women than 
in men 1 ' • 

A. Because a want of chastity in women is attended with incon- 
veniences much more serious and dangerous for them and for society ; 
for, without taking into account the pains and diseases they have in 
common with the men, they are further exposed to all the disadvan- 
■ tages and perils that precede, attend and follow childbirth. When 
pregnant contrary to law, they become an object of public scandal and 
contempt, and sj^end the remainder of their lives in bitterness and 
misery. Moreover, tlie expense of maintaining and educating their 
&tlierless children falls on them : which expense impoverishes them. 



192 LAW OF NATURE. 

and is every way prejudicial to their physical and moral existence. 
In this situation, deprived of the freshness and health that constitute 
their charms', carrying with them an extraneous and expensive bur- 
den, they are less prized by men, they find no solid establishment, 
they fall into poverty, misery, and wretchedness, and thus drag on in 
sorrow their unhappy existence. 

Q. Does tlie law of nature extend so far as tlie scruples of desires 
and tlioiights 1 

A. Yes, because in the physical laws of the human body, thoughts 
and desires inflame the senses, and soo"i provoke to action : now, by 
another law of nature in the organization of our body, those actions 
become meciianical wants which recur at certain periods of days or 
of weeks, so that at such a time tlie want is renewed of such an ac- 
tion and such a secretion ; if this action, and this secretion be injuri- 
ous to health, the habitude of them becomes destructive of life itself. 
Thus thoughts and desires have a true and natural importance. 

Q. Should modesty be considered as a virtue 1 

A. Yes, because modesty, in as much as it is a shame of certain 
actions, maintains the soul and body in all those habits, useful to good 
order, and to self-preservation. The modest woman is estee.med, 
courted and established, with advantages of fortune which assure her 
existence, and render it agreeable to her, whils-t the immodesty and 
prostitute, are despised, repulsed and abandoned to misery and in- 
famy. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ON COURAGE AND ACTIVITY. 

Q. Are courage and strength of body and mind virtues in the 
law of nature 1 

\. Yes, and most important virtues; for they are the effi- 
cacious and indispensable means of attending to our preservat'on 
and welfare. The courageous and strong man repulses oppression, 
defends his life, his liberty, and his piboperty ; by his labor he procures 



LAW OP NATl/RE. 19S 

himself an abundant subsistence, which he enjoys in tranquillity and 
peace of mind. If he falls into misfortunes^pfrom which his prudence 
could not protect him, he supports them with fortivide and resig- 
nation ; and it is for this reason that the ancient moralists have 
reckoned strength and courage amongst the four principal virtues. 

Q. Shoidd weakness and cowardice be considered as vices 1 

A. Yes, since it is certain that they produce innumerable 
calamities. The weak or cowardly man lives in perpetual cares 
and agonies ; he undermines his healtn by the dread, oftentimes ill 
founded, of attacks and dangers : and this dread which is an evil, is 
not a remedy ; it renders him, on the contrary, the slave of him 
who wishes to oppress him ; and by the ser\'itude and debasement of all 
his faculties, it degrades and diminishes his means of existence, so 
far as the seeing his life depend on the will and caprice of another 
man. 

Q. But, after what you have said on the influence of aliments, 
are not courage and force, as well as many other virtues, in a great 
measure the effect of our physical constitution and temperament 1 

A. Yes, it is true ; and so far, that those qualities are transmitted 
by generation and blood, with tlie elements on which they depend : 
the most reiterated and constant facts prove that in the breed of 
animals of every kind, we see certain physical and moral qualities 
attached to tlie individuals of those species, increase or decay 
according to the combinations and mixtures they make with other 
breeds. 

Q. But then as our will is not sufficient to procure us those 
qualities, is it a crime to be destitute of them 1 

A. No ; it is not a crime, but a misfortune : it is what the 
ancients call an unlucky fatality ; but even then, we have it yet iii 
onr poAver to acquire them : for, as soon as we know on what 
physical elements such or such a quality is founded, we can promote its 
growth, and accelerate its developements, by a skilful management 
of those elements ; and in this consists the science of education, 
which, according as it is directed, meliorates or degrades individuals 
or the whole race, to such a pitch, as totally to change tlieir nature 
and inclinations ; for which reason it is of the greatest importance 
to be acquainted with tlie laws of nature, by which those operations 
and changes are certainly and necessarily effected. 

Q. Why do you say that activity is a virtue according to the 
law of nature 1 • - 

17 



194 LAW OP NATURE. 

A. Because the man wlio works and employs his time usefully, 
derives from it a tlioii^nd precious advantages to his existence. 
If he k born poor, his laDor furnishes liim with subsistence ; and still 
more so, if he is sober, continent, and prudent, for he soon acquires 
a competency, and enjoys tlie sweets of life ; his very labor gives him 
virtues ; for, while be occupies his body and mind, he is not affected 
witlj unruly desires, time does not lie heavy on him, he contracta 
mild habits, he augments his sUengtli and health, and attains a 
peaceful and happy old age. 

Q.. Are idleness and sloth vices in the law of nature 1 

A. Yes, and the most pernicious of all vices ; for they lead to all 
the otiiers. By idleness and sloth, man remains ignorant, he forgets 
even tlie science he had accjuired, and falls into all the misfortunes 
which accompany ignorance and folly ; by idleness and slotli, man, 
devoured witli disquietude, in order to dissipate it, abandons him- 
self to all tlie desires of his senses, which, becoming every day more 
'inordinate, render him intemperate, gluttonous, lascivious, enervated, 
cowardly, vile and contemptible. By tlie certain effect of all those 
vices, he ruins his fortune, consumes his health, and terminates his 
iife in all the agonies of sickness and of poverty. 

Q. From what you say, one would think that poverty was a vice 1 

A. No : it i^ not a vice j but it is still less a virtue ; for it is by 
far more ready to injure than to be useful ; it is even commonly the 
result, or the beginning of vice ; for the effect of all individual vices is, 
to lead to indigence, and to the privation of the necessaries of life ; 
and when a man is in want of necessaries, he is tempted to procure 
tliem by vicious means, that is to say, by means injurious to society. 
All the individual virtues tend, on die contrary, to procure to a man 
an abimdant subsistence ; and when he has more than he can con- 
sume, it is much easier for him to give to others, and to practise the 
actions useful to society. 

Q,. Do you look upon opulence as a virtue 1 

A No ; but still less as a vice : it is the use alone of wealth tliat 
can be caFid virtuous or vicious, according as it is serviceable or 
prejudicial to man and to society. Wealth is an instrument the use 
and employiuent alone of which determine its virtue or vice. 



LAW OF NATURE. 19^ 

CHAPTER i;jC 

ON CLEANLINESS 

Q. Why is cleanliness included amongst the virtues *! 

A. Because it is, in reality, one of the most important amongst 
them, on account of its powerful influence over theheallli and preser- 
vation of the body. Cleanliness, as well in dress as in residence, 
obviates the pernicious efiectsoftlie launidity, baneful odors, and 
contagious exhalations proceeding from all tilings abandoned to pu- 
trefaction : cleanliness maintains free transpiration ; it renews the 
air, refreshes the blood, and disposes even tise mind to cheerfidness. 

From tills it appears that persons attentive to the cleanliness of 
their body and habitations, are in general, more healtliy, and less 
subject to disease, than those who live in filtli and nastiness ; and it is 
furtlier remarked, that cleanliness carries with it, throughout all tlie 
branches of domestic administration, habits of order and arrange- 
ment, which are the chief vaejmt «nd first elements of happiness. 

Q. Uncleanliness or filthiness is therefore a real vice 1 

A. Yes, as real a one as dnmkenness, or as idleness from which 
in a great measure it is derived. Uncleanliness is the second, and 
often the first cause of many inconveniences, and even of grievous 
disorders ; it is a fact in medicine, diat it brings on the itch, the 
ficurX, tetters and leprosies, as much as the use of tainted or sour ali- 
ments J that it favors the contUgious influence of tlie plague and ma- 
lignant fevers, that it even produces them in hospitals and prisons ; 
that it occasions rheumatisms, by incrusting the skin witii dirt, and 
tliereby preventing transpiration ; without reckoning the shameful 
inconvenience of being devoured by vermin, the foul appendage of 
misery and depravity. 

Most ancient legislators, therefore, considered cleanliness, which 
they called purity, as one of the essential dogmas of their religions : it 
was for this reason diat tiiey expelled from society, and even punished 
corporally those who were infected witli distempers produced by un- 
cleanliness ; that they instituted and consecrated ceremonies of ablu- 
tions, baths, baptisms, and of purifications even by fire and the aro 
Hiatic fumes of incense, myrrh, benjamin, etc. ; so that the entire sys- 
tem of ablutions, all those rites of clean and unclean tilings, degen- 



196 LAW OP NATURE. 

erated since into abuses and prejudices, were onlj; founded originally 
on the judicious observation, whicli wise and learn«»d men had made, 
of the extreme influence that cleanliness in dress and abode exercises 
over the health of tlie body, and by an Immediate consequence over 
that of the mind and moral faculties. 

Tlius all die individual virtues have for their object, more or leas 
direct, more or less near, the preservation of the man who practises 
them ; and by tlie preservation of each man, tliey lea4 to that of famv 
lies and society which are composed of the united sum of individuals. 



CHAPTER X. 

ON DOMESTIC VIRTUES. 



Q. What do you mean by domestic virtues 1 

A. I mean the practice of actions useful to a family, supposed to 
live in the same house. * 

Q. What are those virtues t 

A. They are economy, paternal love, conjugal love, filial love, 
firatemal love, and the accomplishment of tLe duties of master and 
servant. 

Q. What is economy 1 

A. It is, according to the most extensive meaning of the word, 
the proper administration of everything that concerns the existence 
of the family or house ; and as subsiatence holds the first rank, the 
word economy is confined to the employment of money for the first 
wants of life. 

Q. Why is economy a virtue 1 

A. Because the man who makes no useless expenses acquires a 
Buberabundancy which is true wealth, and by means of which he 
procures for himself and his family everything tliat is really conve- 
nient and useful ; without mentioning his securing thereby resoiu-ces 
against accidental and unforeseen losses, so that he and his family 

* Domestic is derived from the Latin word domus, a house. 



LAW OP NATURE. 19? 

enjoy an agreeable and undisturbed competency, which is the basis 
of humcin felicity. 

Q. Dissipation and prodigality therefore are, vices'? 

A. Yes ; for by tliem man, in tlie end, is deprived of the necessariep 
of life ; he falls into poverty and wretchedness ; and his very friends, 
fearing to be obliged to restore to hira what he has spent with or foi" 
them, avoid him as a debtor does his creditor, and he remains aban 
doned by the whole world. 

Q. What is paternal love *? 

A. It is the assiduous care taken by parents to make their chi 
dren contract the habit of every action useful to themselves and » 
society. 

Q. Why is paternal tenderness a virtue in parents 1 

A. Because parents who rear their children in tliose habits, pro- 
cure for themselves during the coui-se of tlieir lives, enjoyments and 
helps, that give a sensible satisfaction at every Instant, and which 
assure to them, when advanced in years, supports and consolations 
agatinst the wants and calamities of all kinds with which old age is 
beset. 

Q. Is paternal love a common virtue 1 

A. No : notwithstanding tlie ostentation made of it by parents, it 
is a rare virtue ; they do not love their children, tliey caress anv 
spoil (hem ; in them they love only the agents of tlieir will, tlie i» 
struments of their power, the trophies of their vajiity, the pastime 
of their idleness : it is not so much the welfare of their chihh-en diat 
they propose to themselves, as their submission and obedience ; and if 
among children so many are seen ungrateful for benefits receK'ed, 
it is because tiiere are among parents as many despotic and ignorant 
benefactors. 

Q. Why do you say tliat conjugal love is a virtue 1 

A. Because the concord and union resulting from the love of the 
married, establish in the heart of the family a multitude of habits use- 
ful to its prosperity and preservation. The united pair are attached 
to, and seldom quit dieir home; they superintend each particular di- 
rection of it ; they attend to the education of their chikh-eii ; they 
maintain the respect and fidelity of domestics; they prevent all disor- 
der and dissipation ; and from the whole of their good conduct, they 
live in ease and consideration ; whilst married persons who do not 
love one another, fill their house widi quarrels and troubles, create 
dissension between their x:hildren and the servants, leaving both in- 
17* 



198 LAW OS- NATURE. 

discrimlnately to all kinds of vicious habits ; every one in turn spoils, 
robs and plunders the bouse : the revenues are absorbed without profit j 
debts accumulate, the married pair avoid each other, or contend in 
law-suits ; and the whole family falls into disorder, ruin, disgrace, 
and want. 

Q. Is adultery an offence in the law of nature 1 
A. Yes : for it is attended with a number of habits injurious to 
the married, and to tlieir families. The wife or husband whose af- 
fections are estranged, neglect their house, avoid it, and deprive it, 
as mudi as tliey can, of its revenues or income, to expend them with 
the object of their affections ; hence arise quarrels, scandal, law- 
suits, the neglect of their children and servants, and at last tlie plun- 
dering and ruin of the whole family : without reckoning that the 
adulterous woman commits a most grievous theft, in giving to her 
husband heirs of foreign blood, who deprfve his real children of their 
legitimate portion. 
Q. What is filial love 1. 

A. It is, on the side of children, the practice of those actions, use- 
ful to themselves and to their parents. 
Q. How does the law of nature prescribe filial love *? • 
A. By three principal motives : 1st, by sentiment, for the affeo- 
♦ionate care of parents inspires, from the most tender age, mild hab- 
its of attachment i 2dly, by justice, for children owe to their parents 
a return and indemnity for the cares, and even for the expenses tliey 
have caused them ; 3dly, by personal interest, fo , if they use them 
ill, they give to their own children examples of revolt and ingratitude 
which authorise them, at a future day, to behave to themselves in a 
similar manner. 

Q,. Are we to understand by filial love a passive and blind Sub' 
mission. 

A. No . but a reasonable submission, founded on the knowledge 
of the mutual rights and duties of parents and children ; rights and 
duties, without the observance of which their mutual conduct is noth- 
ing but disorder. 
Q. Why is fraternal love a virtue 1 

A. Because the concord and union which result from the love of 
brothers, establish the strength, security and conservation of the fam- 
ily : brotliers united, defend themselves against all oppression, they aid 
one another in their wants, they help one another in their misfortunes, 
and thus secure their common existence : whilst broth.ers disunited. 



LAW OF NATURE. 199 

abandoned each to his own personal strength, fall into all the incon- 
veniences attendant on an insulated state and individual weakness. 
This is what a certain Scythian king ingeniously expressed, when on 
his death-bed : calling his children to liim, he ordered them to break a 
butidle of arrows ; the young raen, though strong, being unable to ef- 
fect it, he took«ihein in his turn, and untying them, broke each of the 
arrows separately with his fingers. " Behold," said he, " the effects of 
union ; united together you will be invincible ; taken separately, you 
will be broken like reeds." 

Q,. What are the reciprocal duties of masters and of servants 1 
A. They consist in the practice of the actions which are respec- 
tively and justly useful to them; and here begin the relations of socie- 
ty ; for the rule and measure of those respective actions is the equi- 
librium or equality between the service and the recompense, between 
what the one returns and the other gives ; which is the fundamental 
basis of all society. 

Thus, h'A the domestic and individual virtues, refer more or less 
mediately, but always with certitude, to the physical object of the 
amelioration and presei-vation of man, and are thiereby precepts 
resulting from the fimdamental law of nature in his fonnation. 



CHAPTER XX. 

OF THE SOCIAL VIRTUES 5 OF JUSTICE. 

Q What is society 1 

A. It is every reunion of men living together under the clauses of 
an expressed oc tacit contract, which has for its end tlieir common 
preservation. 

Q. Are the social virtues numerous 1 

A. Yes : they are in as great number as the kinds of actions use- 
ful to society ; but all may be reduced to one only principle. 

Q. What is that fundamental principle 1 

A. It is justice, which alone comprises all the virtues of society 

Q. Why do you saj that justice is the fundamental and almost 
only virtue of society 1 



200 LAW OF NATURE. 

A. Because it alone embraces the practice of all the actions use- 
ful to it ; and because all the otlier virtues, under the denominations 
of charity, humanity, probity, love of one's country, sincerity, gene- 
rosity, simplicity of manners and modesty, are only varied forms and 
diversified applications of the axiom, Do not to another what you 
would not wish to be done to yourself; which is the definition of jus- 
tice. 

Q. How does the law of nature prescribe justice 1 

A. By three physical attributes inherent in the organization of 
man. 

Q.. What are those attributes T 

A. They are equality, liberty, and property. 

Q. How is equality a physical attribute of man 1 

A. Because all men having equally eyes, hands, mouths, ears, and 
the necessity of making use of them in order to live, have, by this 
reason alone, an equal right to life, and to the use of tlie aliments 
which maintain it ; they are all equal before God. 

Q. Do you suppose that all men heaj* equally, see equally, feel 
equally, have equal wants and equal passions. 

A. No ; for it is evident and daily demonstrated, that one is short 
and another long sighted ; that one eats much, another little ; that 
one has mild, another violent passions ; in a word, that one is weak 
in body and mind, whilst another is strong in both. 

Q. They are therefore really unequal. 

A. Yes, in the developement of their means, but not in the nature 
and essence of those means ; they are made of the same stuff, but 
not in the same dimensions ; nor are the weight and value equal. 
Our language possesses no one word capable of expressing the 
identity of nature, and the diversity of its form and employment. It 
is a proportional equality ; and it is for this reason I have said, equal 
before God, and in the order of nature. 

Q. How is liberty a physical attribute of man '? 

A. Because all men having senses sufficient for their preservation, 
no one wanting the eye of another to see, his ear to hear, his mouth 
to eat, his feet to walk, they are all, by this very reason, constitut 
ed naturally independent and free ; no man is necessarily subjected 
to another, nor has he a right to domineer over him. 

Q,. But if a man is born strong, has he not a natural right to 
master the weak man 1 

A. No ; for it is neither a necessity for him, nor a conventioQ 



LAW OP NATURE. 201 

between them ; It is an abusiw extension of his strength ; and here 
an abuse is made of the word right, which in its true meaning implies, 
justice or reciprocal faculty. 
Q. How is property a physical attribute of man 1 
A. In as much as all men being constituted equal or similar to 
one another, and consequently independent and free, each is tlie 
absolute master, the full proprietor of his body and ef the produce of 
his labor. 

Q. How is justice derived from these three attributes 1 
A. In this, ihat me/i being equal and free, owing nothing to each 
other, have no right to require anythii>g from one another, only in as 
much as they return an equal value for it ; or in as much as the b,alance 
of what is given is in equilibrium with what is returned : and it is 
this equality, this equilibrium which is called justice, equity ;* that 
is to say that equality and justice are but one and the same word, 
the same law of nature, of which tlie social virtues are only applica- 
tions and def ivatives. 



CHAPTER XII. 



DEVELOPEMENT OF THE SOCIAL VIRTUES. 

Q. Explain how the social virtues are derived from the law of 
nature. How is charity or the love of one's neighbour a precept and 
application of it 1 

A, By reason of equality and reciprocity : for when we injure 
another, we give him a right to injure us in return : thus, by attack- 
ing the existence of our neighbour we endanger our own, from the 
effect of reciprocity ; on the other hand, by doing good to othejs, we 
have room and right to expect an equivalent exchange j and Such is 
the character of all the social virtues, that they are useful to the man 
who practises tliem, by the right of reciprocity which they give him 
over those who are benefited by them. 

Q. Charity is tlien nothing but justice 1 

A. No ; it is only justice ; with this slight difference, tha' ?trict 
justice confines itself to saying. Do not to another the harm you would 

* iEquitas, aequilibrium; sequalitas, are all of ihe same famiiv. 



202 LAW OF NATUR^a. 

not wish he should do to you 5 and that charity, or the love of one's 
neighbour, extends so far as to say, Do to another the good whicli you 
would wish to receive from him. Thus when the gospel said, that 
this precept contained the whole of the law and the prophets, it announ- 
ced nothing more than the precept of the law of nature. 

Q. Does it enjoin forgiveness of injuries 1 

A. Yes, in as much as that forgiveness is consistent with self-pre- 
servation. 

Q. Does it prescribe to us, after having received a blow on one 
cheek, to hold out the other 1 

A. No ; for it is, in the first place, contrary to the precept of loving 
our neighbour as ourselves, since thereby we should Iwve, more than 
ourselves, him who makes an attack on our preservation. 2d. Such 
a precept in. its literal sense, encourages the wicked to oppression 
and injustice; the law of nature has been more wise in prescribing a 
calculated proportion of courage and moderation, which induces us to 
forget a first or unpremeditated injury, but which punishes every act 
tending to oppression. 

Q. Does the law of nature prescribe to do good to others beyond 
the bounds of reason and measure 1 

A. No ; for it is a siu-e way of leading th^m to ingratitude. Such 
is the force of sentiment and justice implanted in tlie heart of man, 
that he is not even grateful for benefits conferred without discretion. 
There is one only measure with them, and that is to be just. 

Q,. Is alms-giving a virtuous action 1 

A. Yes, when it is practised according to the rule first mentioned ; 
without which it degenerates into imprudence and vice, in as much 
as it encourages laziness, which is hurtful to the beggar and to socie- 
ty ; no one has a right to partake of the property and fruits of anoth- 
er's labor, M ithout rendering an equivalent of his own industiy. 

Q. Does the law of nature consider as virtues faith and hope, 
which are often joined Avith charity 1 

A. No : for they are ideas witliout reality ; and if any eflfects re- 
sult from them, they turn rather to the profit of those who have not 
those ideas, than of those who have them ; so that faith and hope may 
be called the virtues of dupes for the benefit of knaves. 
, Q. Does the law cJf-natiu-e prescribe probity 1 

A. Yes : for probity is nothing more than respect lor one's own 
rights in those of another ; a respect founded on a prudent and well 
combined calculation of our interests compared to those of others 



LAW OF NATURE. 203 

Q. But does not this calculation, which embraces the complicated 
mterests and rights of the social state, require an enlightened under- 
standing and knowledge, which make -it a difficult science 1 

A. Yes, and a science so much the more delicate as the honest 
man pronounces in his own cause. 

Q,. Probity, therefore, is a sign of extension and justice in the mind ; 

A. Yes : for an honest man almost always neglects a present in- 
terest, in order not to destroy a future one ; whereas the knave does 
the contrary, and loses a great future interest for a present smalFer one. 

Q. Improbity, tlierefore, is a sign of false judgment and a narrow 
mind 1 

A. Yes ; and rogues may be defined ignorant and silly calculators : 
for they do not understand their true interest, and they pretend to cun- 
ning: nevertheless their cunning only ends in making known what 
they are; in losing all confidence and esteem, and the good services 
resulting from them for their physical and social existence. They 
neither live in peace with others, nor with themselves ; and inces- 
santly menaced by their conscience and their enemies, they enjoy no 
other real happiness but that of not being hanged. 

Q. Does the law of natm'e forbid robbei-y 1 

A. Yes : for the man who robs anotlier gives him a right to rob 
him ; from that moment there is no security in his property nor m 
his means of preservation ; thus, in injuring others, he, by a counter- 
blow injures himself. ' 

Q. Does it interdict even an inclination to rob 1 

A. Yes ; for that inclination leads naturally to action, and it is 
for this reason that envy is considered a sin. 

Q. How does it forbid murder ■? 

A. By the most powerful motives of self-preservation ; for, Ist. 
the man who attacks exposes himself to the risk of being killed, by' 
the right of defence; 2d. if he kills, he gives to the relations and 
friends of the deceased, and to society at large, an equal right of 
killing him ; so that his life is no longer in safety. 

Q. How can we,1jy. the law of nature, repair the evil we have 
done '? 

A. By rendering a proportionate good to those whom we have in- 
jured. V 

Q. Does it allow us to repair it by prayers, vows, oiferings to 
God, fasting and mortifications "? 

A. No : for all fhosp things are foreign to the action ;ve wish to 



204 LAW OF NATURE. 

lepaii- : they neither restore the ox to him from whom it has been 
stolen, honor to him whom we have deprived of it, nor life to him 
from whom it has been takeu away ; consequently they miss the end 
of justice ; tliej' are only perverse contracts by which a man sells to 
another goods which do not belong to him : they are a real deprav9- 
tion of morality, in as much as they embolden to commit crimes 
tbrougfh tlie hope of expiating them ; wherefore, they have been the 
real cause of all the evils by which the people amongst whom those 
expiatory practices were used, have been continually tormented. 

Q. Does the law of nature order sincerity '? 

A. Yes : for lying, perfidy and perjury create distrust, quarrels, 
hatred, revenge, and a crowd of evils amongst men, which tendT to 
their common destruction ; whilst sincerity and fidelity establish con- 
fidence, concord, and peace, besides the infinite good resulting from 
such a state of things to society. 

Q. Does it prescribe mildness and modesty 1 

A. Yes : for harshness and obduracy,, by alienating from us the 
hearts of other men, give them an inclination to hurt us ; ostentation 
and vanity, by wounding their self-love and jealousy, occasion us to 
miss the end of a real utility. 

Q. Does it prescribe humility as a virtue 1 

A. No : for it is a propensity in the human heaj-t to despise 
secretly everything that presents to it the idea of weakness ; and 
self-debasement encourages pride and oppression in others ; the 
balance must be kept in equipoise. 

Q. You liave reckoned simplicity of manners amongst the social 
virtues ; what do you understand by that word "? 

A. I mean the restricting our wants and desires to what is truly 
useful to the existence of the citizen and his family ; that is to say, 
the man of simple manners has but (ew wants, and lives content 
witli a little. 

Q. How is this virtue prescribed to us 1 

A . By tJie numerous advantages which t'he practice of it procures 
to the individual and to society ; for the man whose wants are few, 
is free at once from a crowd of cares, perplexities and labors ; he 
avoids many quarrels and contests arising from avidity and a desire 
of gain ; he spares himself the anxiety of ambition, the inquietudes 
of possession, and the uneasiness of losses ; finding superfluity every- 
where, he is the real rich man ; always content with Avhat he has, he 
is happy at little expense ; and other men not fearing any competition 



LAW OF NATURE. 205 

from him, leave him in (jiiiet, and are disposed to render him the 
services he should stand in need of. 

And if this virtue of simplicity extends to a whole people, they as- 
sure to themselves abundance ; rich in every thing they do not con- 
sume, they acquire immense means of exchange anu commerce ; they 
work, fabricate and sell at a lower price than others, and attain to 
all kinds of prosperity botli at home and abroad. 

Q. What is tlie vice contfary to this virtue 1 

A. It is cupidity and luxury. 

Q. Is luxury a vice in the individual and in society 1 

A. Yes; and to that degree, that it may be said to include all 
the others; for the man who stands in need of many things, imposes 
thereby on himself all the anxiety, and submits to all the means just or 
unjust of acquiring tliem. Does he possess an enjoyment, he covets 
another ; and in the bosom of superfluity, he is never rich ; a com- 
modious dwelling is not sufficient for him, he must have a beautiful 
hotel ; not content with a plenteous table, he must have rare and cost- 
ly viands : he must have splendid fmniture, expensive clothes, a train 
of attendants, horses, cai-riages, women, theatrical representations 
and games. Now, to supply so many expenses, much money must 
be had ; and he looks on every method of procuring it as good and 
even necessary : at first he borrows, afterwards he steals, robs, plun- 
ders, turns bankrupt, is at war with every one, ruins and is ruined. 

Should a nation be involved in luxury, it occ^asions on a larger 
scale the same devastations ; by reason that it consumes its entire 
produce, it finds itself poor even with abundance ; it has nothing to 
sell to foreigners ; its manufactures are cairied on at a great expense, 
and are sold too dear; it becomes U'ibutary for everything it imports; 
it attacks externally its consideration, power, strength, and means 
of defence and preservation ; whilst internally it undermines and falls 
into the dissolution of its members. All its citizens being covetous 
of enjoyments, are engaged in a perpetual struggle to obtain them ; 
all injure or are near injuring tJiemselves : and hence arise those hab- 
its and actions of usurpation, which constitute what is denominated 
moral corruption, intestine war between citizen and citizen. From 
luxury arises avidity, from avidity, invasion by violence and perfidy; 
from luxui-y arises the iniquity of the judge, the venality of the witness, 
the improbity of the husband, the prostitution of the wife, the obduracy 
.of parents, the ingratitude of children, the avarice of tlie master, the 
dishonesty of the servant, the dilapidation of the administrator, tlie 
18 



206 LAW OF NATURE. 

perversity of the legislator, lying, perfidy, perjury, assassination, and 
ail tlie disorders of tlie social state ; so tliat it was with a profound 
sense of truth, that ancient moralists have laid the basis of tlie social 
virtues on simplicity of manners, restriction of wants, and 'content- 
ment with a little ; and a sure A\ay of knowmg the extent of a man's 
virtues and vices, is, to find out if his expenses are proportionate to 
his fortune, and calculate from his want of money, his probity, his 
integrity in fulfilling his engagements, his devotion to the public 
weal, and his sincere or pretended love of his country. 

Q. What do you mean by tlie word country 1 

A. I mean the community of citizens who, united by fraternal 
sentiments, and reciprocal wants, make of their respective 'sti^ength 
one common force, the reaction of which on each of them assumes 
the preservative and beneficent character of paternity. In society, 
citizens form a bank of interest ; in our country we form a family of 
endearing attachments ; it is charity, the love of one's neighbour ex- 
tended, to a whole nation. Now, as charity cannot be separated from 
justice, no member of tlie family can pretend to the enjoyment of 
its advantages, except in proportion to his labor ; if he consumes 
more than it produces, he necessarily encroaches on his fellow citi- 
zens ; and it is only by consuming less than what he produces or pos- 
sesses, that he can acquire the means of making sacrifices and being 
generous. 

Q. What do you conclude from 'all this 1 

A. I conclude from it that all the social virtues are only the hab- 
itude of actions useful to society and to the individual who practises 
them ; That they all refer to the physical object of man's presena- 
tion ; That nature having implanted in us the want of that preserva- 
tion, has made a law to us of all its consequences, and a crime of 
everything that deviates firom it ; That we carry in us the seed of 
every virtue, and of every perfection ; That it only requires to be 
developed ; That we are only happy in as much as we observe the 
rules established by nature for the end of our preservation ; And that 
all wisdom, all perfection, all law, all virtue, all philosophy, consist in 
the practice of these axioms founded on our own organization : 
Preserve-thyself ; Instruct-thyself ; Moderate-thyself ; 
Live for thy fellow citizens, that they may live for thee. 



CONTROVERSY 

BETWEEN 

DR. PRIESTLY AND VOLNEY. 

FBOM THE ANTI-JACOBIN REVIEW. 



In 1797, Dr. Priestly published a pamphlet, entitled, " Observa 
tions on the increase of infidelity, with animadversions upon the 
writings of several modern unbelievers, and especially the Ruins of 
Mr. Volney. The motto to this tract was, 

" Minds of little penetration rest natiu-ally on the surface of things. 
They do not like to pierce deep into them, for feai' of labor and 
trouble ; sometimes still more for feai- of truth." 

The following Letter is an answer from Volney, taken firom the 
Anti-Jacobin Review of March and April, 1799. 



From the Anti- Jacobin Review, for March 1799. 

VOLNEY'S ANSWER TO DR. PRIESTLY. 



Sir, — I received in due time your pamphlet on the ina-eaae of in- 
fidelity, together with the note without date which accompanied it.* 
My answer has been delayed by the incidents of business, and even by 
ill health, which you will surely excuse : this delay has, besides, no 
inconvenience in it. The question between us is not of a very urgent' 
nature : the world would not go on less well with or without my an- 
swer as with or without your book. I might, indeed, have dispensed 
with returning you any answer at all ; and I should have been war- 
ranted in so doing, by the manner in which you have staled the debate, 
and by the opinion pretty generally received that, on certain occasions, 
and with certain persons, the most noble reply is silence. You seem 
to have been aware of this yourself, considering the extreme precau- 
tions you have taken to deprive me of this resource ; but as, according 
to our French customs, any answer is an act of civility, I am not wil- 
ling to concede the advantage of politeness — besides, although silence 
is sometimes very significant, its eloquence is not understood by every 
one, and the public which has not leisure to analyze disputes (often 
of little interest) has a reasonable right to require at least some pre- 
liminary explanatjons ; reserving to itself, should die discussion degen- 
erate into the recriminative clamors of an irritated self-love, to al- 
low the right of silence to him in whom it becomes the virtue of 
moderation. 

I have read, therefore, your animadversions on my Ruins, which 
you are pleased to class among the writings of modern unbelievers ; 
and since you absolutely insist on my expressing my opinion before 
the public, I shall now fulfil this rather disagreeable task with all pos- 
sible brevity, for the sake 6f economising the time of our readers 

* Dr. Priestly sent his pamphlet to Volney, desiring his answer to tha 
strictures on his opinions in his " Ruins of Empires." Editored. J. Review -, 

18* 



210 volney's letter 

In the first place, sir, it appears evidently, from your pamphlet, 
tliat your design is less to attack my book than my j)ersonal and moral 
ciiaracter; and in order the public may pronounce with accuracy on 
this point, I submit several passages fitted to throw light on the sub- 
ject. 

You say, in the preface of your discourses, p. 12, ' Tiiere are, how- 
ever, unbelievers more ignorant than Mr. Paine, Mr. Volney, Lequi- 
no, and others in France say,' &c. 

Also in the preface of your present observations, p. 20. ' I can tru- 
ly say that in the writings of Hume, Mr. Gibbon, Voltaire, Mr. Vol- 
ney — there is nothing of solid argument : all abound in gross mistakes 
and misrepresentations.' Idem, p. 38 — ' Whereas had he (Mr. 
Volney) given attention to the history of the times in which Christian- 
ity was promulgated. ... he could have no more doubt . . . &c. it 
is as much in vain to argue with such a person as this, as with a Chi- 
nese or even a Hottentot.' 

Idem, p. 119 — ' Mr. Volney, if we may judge from his numerous 
quotations of ancient writers in all the learned languages, oriental as 
well as occidental, must Ije acquainted with all ; for he makes no men- 
tion of any translation, and yet if we judge from this specimen of his 
knowledge of them, he caimot have the smallest tincture of tliat of the 
Hebrew, or even of the Greek.' 

And, at last, after having published and posted me in your very ti- 
tle page, as an unbeliever and an infidel ; after having pointed me out 
in yoiu* motto as one of those superficial spirits who know not how 
to find out, and are unwilling to encoimter, truth ; you add, p. 124, 
immediately after an article in which you speak of ine under all these 
denominations — * 

" Tire progress of infidelity, in the present age, is attended with a 
circumstance which did not so frequently accompany if in any former 
period, at least, in England, which is, tiiat unbelievers in revelation 
generally proceed to the disbelief of tlie being and pruvidence of God 
so as to become properly Atheists." So that, according to you, I am 
a Chinese, a Hottentot, an unbeliever, an Atheist, an ignoramus, a 
man of no sincerity; whose writings are full ofnothing but gross mis- 
takes and misrepresentiitions. Now I ask you, sir. What has all 
this to do with the main question ? What has my book in common 
with my person 1 And how can you hold any converse with a man 
of such bad connexions ? In the second place, your invitation, or 
rather, yoiu summons to me, to noint out the mistakes which / think 



TO DR. PRIESTLY. iJll 

you have made with respect to my opinions, suggest to me several 
observations. 

1st. You suppose that the public attaches a high importance to* 
your mistakes and to my opinions : but I cannot act upon a supposi- 
tion. Am I not an unbeliever 1 

2d. You say, p. 18, that the public will expect it from me : 
Where are the powers by which you make the public speak and act ? 
is this also a revelation 1 

3d. You require me to point out your mistakes. I do not know 
that I am under any such obligation ; I have not reproaclied you with 
them : it is not, indeed, very correct to ascribe to me, by selection or 
indiscriminately, as you have done, all the opinions scattered through 
my book, since, having introduced many different persons, I was 
under the necessity of making tliem deliver different sentiments, ac- 
cording to their different characters. The part' which belongs to 
me is tliat of a traveller, resting upon the ruins and meditating on the 
causes of the misfortunes of the humam race. To be consistent with 
yourself you ought to have assigned to me that of the Hottentot or 
Samoyde savage, who argues with the Doctors, Chap, xxiii, and I 
should have accepted it; you have preferred that of the erudite his- 
torian. Chap, xxii, nor do I look upon this as a mistake ; I discover, 
on the contrary, an insidious design to engage me in a duel of self- 
love before the public, wherein you would excite the exclusive inter- 
est of the spectators by supporting the cause which they approve; 
Avhile the task which you would impose on me, would only, in the 
event of success, be attended with sentiments of disapprobation. 
Such is your artful purpose, that, in attacking me as doubting the ex- 
istence of Jesus, you might secure to yoiuself, by surprise, the favor 
of every christian sect, ahhough your own incredulity in his divine 
nature is not less subversive of Christianity than the jjrofane opinion, 
which does not find in history the proof required by the English law 
to establish a fact : to say nothing of the extraordinary kind of pride 
assumed in the silent, but palpable, comparison of yourself to Paul 
and to Christ, by likening your labors to theirs as tending to the 
same object, p.. 10, preface. NcN^ertheless, as the first impression of 
an attack always confers an advantage, you have some ground for ex- 
pecting you may obtain the apostolic crown ; unforttu^ately for your 
purpose I entertain no disposition to that of martyrdom : and how- 
ever glorious it might l>e to me to fall inider the arm of him who has 
•vercome Hume, Gibbon^ Voltaire and even Frederick II, I find my- 



212 VOLNEY^S LETTER 

self under tlie necessity of declining your theological challenge, for a 
number of substantial reasons. 

1st. Because, to religious quarrel's there is no end, since the preju- 
dices of infancy and education almost unavoidably exclude impartial 
reasoning, and besides, tlie vanity of tlie champions becomes commit- 
ted by the very publicity of the contest, never to give up a first as- 
sertion, whence result a spirit of sectarism and faction. 

2d. Because no one has a right to ask of me an account of my re- 
ligious opmions : every inquisition of this kind is a pretension to sove- 
reignty, a first step towards persecution ; and the tolerant spirit of 
this country, which you invoke, has much less in view to engage men 
to speak, than to invite them to be silent. 

8d. Because supposing I do hold the opinions you attribute to me, 
I wish not to engage my vanity so as never to retiact^ nor to deprive 
myself of the resource of a conversion on some future day after more 
ample information. 

4th. And because, reverend sir, if, in the support of your own 
theses, you should happen to be discomfited before the chi-istian au- 
dience, it would be a dreadlul scandal : and I will not be a cause for 
scandal, even for the sake of good. 

5th. Because in this metaphysical contest our arms are too 
unequal ; you speaking in your mother tongue, which I scarcely lisp, 
might bring forth huge volumes, while I could hardly oppose pages ; 
and the public, who would read neither production, might take the 
weight oTthe books for that of reasonings. 

6th. And because being endowed with the gift of faith, in a 
pretty sufficient quantity, you might swallow in a quarter of an hour 
more articles than my logic would digest in a week. 

7th. Because again, if you were to oblige me to attend your sermons, 
as you have compelled me to read yoiu* pamphlet, the congregation 
would never believe that a man powdered and adorned like any world- 
ling, could be in the riglit against a man dressed out in a large hiiLt,with 
straight hair,* and a mortified countenance, although the gospel, 
speaking of the pharisees of other times, who v/ere unpowdered, says 
that when one fasts he must annoint his head and wash his face.f 

8th. Because finally, a dispute to one having nothing else to do, 
would be a gratrfication, while to me, who can employ my time 
better, it would be an absolute loss. 

* Dr. Priestly has discarded hi^ wig since lie went to America, and 
wears his own hair. Editor A. J. Review. 

t St Matthew, Chapter VI. verses 16 and 17. 



TO DR. PRIESTLY. 213 

I shal! not then, reverend sir, make you my confessor in matters 
of religioji,bnt I will disclose to you my opinion, as a man of letters, 
on the composition of your book. Having, in former days, read 
many works of theology, I was curious to find out whedier by any 
chymical process you had discovered rd^l beings in that world of in- 
visibles ; unfortunately I am obliged to declare to the public, which, 
according to your expression, p. 19, " hopes to he instructed, to 
be led into truth, and not into error by me," tli.it t have not 
found in your book a single new argument, but tlie mere repetition 
of what is told over and over in thousands of volumes, the whole fruit 
of which has been to procure for their authors a cm-sory mention in 
the dictionary of heresies. You everywhere lay down that as proved 
which remains to be proved ; with this peculiai-ity, that, as Gibbon 
says, firing away yom- double battery against those who believe too 
much, and tliose who believe too little, you hold out your own peculiar 
sensations, as to the precise criterion of truth ; so that we must all be 
just of your size in ordei: to pass die gate of that New Jerusalem 
which you are building. After this, your reputation as a divine 
might have become problematical with me ; but recollecting the 
principle of the association of ideas so well developed by Locke, 
whom you hold in estimation, and whom, for that reason I am hap- 
py to cite to you, although to him I owe that pernicious use of my 
understanding which makes me disbelieve what I do not compre- 
hend — I perceive why the public having originally attached the* 
idea of talents to the name of Mr. Priestly, doctor in chymistry, 
continued by habit to associate it with the name of Mr. Priestly, 
doctor in divinity ; which however is not the same thing : an associa- 
tion of ideas the more vicious as it is liable to be moved inversely.* 
Happily you have yourself raised a bar of separation between your 
admirers, by advising us in the first page of your preface, that your 
present book is especially destined for believers. To cooperate, 
however, with you, sir, in this judicious design, I must observe that 
it is necessary to retrench two passages, seeing they afford tlie great- 
est support to the arguments o( unbelievers 

You say, p. 15, " What is manifestly contrary to natural, 

* Mr. Blair, doctor of divinity, and Mr. Black, doctor in chymistry, met 
at the coffee house in Edinburg : a new theological pamphlet written by 
doctor Priestly was thrown upon the table, " Really," said Dr. Blair," 
this man had better confine himself to chymistry, for he is absolutely 
ignorant in theology:"— "I beg your pardon," answered Dr. Black, " he 
is in the right, he is a minister of the gospel, he ought to adhere to his 
profession, for in truth he knows nothing of chymistry." 



214 volney's letter 

reason cannot be received by it:''' — and p. 62, " With respect 
to intellect, men and brute animals are born in the same state, Jiav- 
ing the same external senses, which are the only inlets to all ideas, 
and consequently the source of all the knowledge and of all tlie 
mental habits they ever acquire. 

Now if yon admit, with Loclte, and with us infidels, that every one 
has the right of rejecting whatever is contrary to his natural reason j 
and that all our ideas and all our knowledge are acquired only by the in- 
Jcts of our external senses ; What liecoraes of the system of revelation, 
and of that order of things in times past, which is so contradictory to 
that of the time present 1 unless we consider it as a dream of the human 
brain during the state of superstitious ignorance. — With these two 
single phrases, I could overturn the whole edifice of your faith. 
Dread not, however, sir, in me such overflowing zeal : for the same 
reason I have not the frenzy of martyrdom, I have not that of making 
proselytes. It becomes those ardent, or rather^ acrimonious tem- 
pers, who mistake the violence of their sentiments, for the enthusi- 
asm of truth ; the ambition o.f noise and rumor, for the love of glory j 
and for the love of their neighbour, the detestation of his opinions, 
and the secret desire of dominion. As for me who have not received 
from nature the turbulent qualities of an apostle, and never sustained 
in Europe the character of a dissenter, I am come to America neith- 
er to agitate the conscience of men, nor to form a sect, nor to es- 
tablish a colony, in which, under the pretext of religion, I might 
erect a little empire to myself. I have never been seen evangelizing 
my ideas, either in temples or in public meetings. I have never like- 
wise practised that quackery of beneficence, by which a certain divine, 
imposing a tax upon the generosity of the public, procures for himself 
the honors of a more numerous audience, and the merit of distributing 
at his pleasure a bounty which costs him nothing, and for which he 
receives grateful thanks dexterously stole from the original donors. — 
Either in the capacity of a stranger, or in that of a citizen, a sincere 
friend to peace, I carry into society neither the spirit of dissension, 
nor the desire of commotion ; and because I respect in every one what 
I wish him to respect in me, the name of liberty is in my mind noth- 
ing else but the synonyma of justice ; as a man, Avhether fiom modera- 
tion or indolence, a spectator of the world rather than an actor in it, 
1 am every day less tempted to take on me the management of the 
mmds or bodies of men : it is sufficient for an individual to govern his 
own passions and caprices. If by one of these caprices, I am induced 



TO DR. PRIESTLY. 215 

to think it may be useful, sometimes to publish my reflections, I do it 
without obstinacy or pretension to that implicit faith, the ridicule of 
which you d6sire to impart to me, p. 123. My whole book of the Ru- 
ins winch you treat so ungratefully, since you thought it amusing, p. 
122, evidently bears this character. By means of the contrasted opin- 
ions I have scattered through it, it breathes that spirit of doubt and un- 
certainty which appears to me the best suited to the weakness of the 
human mind, and the most adapted to its improvement, inasmuch as 
it always leaves a door open to new truths ; while the spirit of dogma- 
tism and immovable belief, limiting our progress to a first received 
opinion, binds us at hazard, and without resource, to the yoke of er- 
ror or falsehood, and occasions the most serious mischiefs to society ; 
since by combining with the passions, it engenders fanaticism, which, 
sometimes misled and sometimes misleading, though always intolerant 
and despotic, attacks whatever is not of its own nature ; drawing up- 
on itself persecution when it is weak, and practising persecution when 
it is powerful ; establishing a religion of terror, which annihilates the 
faculties, and vitiates tlie conscience : so that, whether under a po- 
litical or a religious aspect, the spirit of doubt is friendly to all ideas 
of liberty, truth, or genius, while a spirit of confidence is connected 
with the ideas of tyranny, servility, and ignorance. If, as is the fact, 
our own experience and that of others daily teaches us that what at 
one time appeared true, afterwards appeared demonstrably false, how 
can we connect with our judgments that blind and presumptuous con- 
fidence which pursues those of others with so much hatred ] No 
doubt it is reasonable and even honesty to act according to our pres- 
ent feelings, and conviction : but if these feelings and their causes do 
vary by the very nature of things, how dare we impose upon our- 
selves or others an invariable conviction "? How, above all, dare we 
require this conviction in cases where there is really no sensation, as 
happens in purely speculative questions, in which no palpable fact 
can be presented '? Therefore when opening tlie book of naturCj a 
more authentic one and more easy to be read than leaves of paper 
blackened over with Greek or Hebrew, when I reflected that the 
slightest change in the material world has not been in times past, 
nor is, at present, efl'ected by tlie difference of so many religions and 
sects which have appeared and still exist on the globe, and the course 
of the seasons, the path of the sun, the return of rain and drought are 
the same for the inhabitants of each country, whether Christian, 
Mussulmen, Idolaters, Catholics, Protestants, &c. I am induced to 



216 volney's letter, &c. 

believe that the universe is governed by laws of wisdom and justice 
very different from those which human ignorance and intolerance 
would enact. And -as in living with men of ver}' opposite religious 
persuasi(*is. I have had occasion to remark that their manners were, 
nevertheless, very analogous ; that is to say, among the different 
Christian sects, among the Mahometans, and even among those |ieo- 
ple who were of no sect — I have found men who practise all the < .r 
tues, public and private, and that too without affectation ; while 
others, who were incessantly declaiming of God and religion, aban 
doned themselves to every vicious habit, wliich their belief condem- 
ned — I became convinced that Ethics, the doctrine of morality, are 
the ohly essential, as they are the only dv3monstrable, part of reli- 
gion, — And as, by your own avowal, the only end of religion is to 
render men better, in order to add to their happiness, p. 62, I have 
concluded that there are but two great systems of religion in the world, 
that of good sense and beneficence, and that of malice and hypocrisy. 
In closing this letter I find myself embarrassed by the nature of 
the sentiment which I ought to express to yofi ; for in declaring as you 
have done, p. 123, that you do not care for the contempt of suck as 
me* (ignorant as you were of my opinion) you tell me plainly that 
you do not care for their esteem : I leave, therefore,- to your discern 
ment and taste to determine the sentiment most congenial to my 
situation and your desert. C. F. VOLNEY. 

Philadelphia, March lOth, 1797. 

P. S. I do not accompany this public letter with a private note 
to Dr. Priestly ; because communications of that nature carry an ap- 
pearance of bravado, which, even in exercising the right of a neces- 
sary defence, appear to me incompatible with decency and politeness 

* " And what does it do for me here, except, perhaps, expose me to 
the contempt of such men as Mr. Volney, which, however, I feel myself 
pretty weli able to bear .'" p. 124 This language is the more surprising, 
as Dr. Priestly never received anything from me but civilities. In the 
year 1791 I sent hiru a dissertation of mine on tlie chronology of the an- 
cients, in consequence of some charts which he had himself published. 
His only answer was to abuse me in a pamphlet in 1792. After this first 
abuse, on meeting me here last winter, he jirocured me to be invited to 
dine with his friend Mr. Russell, at whose house he lodged ; after having 
shown me polite attentions at that dinner, he abuses me in his new pam- 
phlet. After this second abuse he meets me in Spruce Street, and takes 
me by the hand as a friend, and speaks of me in a large company under 
that denomination. JVow I ask the public what kind of man is Dr. 
Priestly 7 



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